The fallout from the Mexican Grand Prix isn’t over yet, as the local motorsport authority OMDAI has now turned the spotlight on Liam Lawson. The Racing Bulls driver escaped a near-miss with marshals during the race and is being accused by Mexico’s motorsport governing body of not slowing down enough during the incident.
What started as a shocking on-track incident in Mexico has now turned into a heated situation between the FIA’s local branch and one of F1’s rising stars.
What Actually Happened in Mexico?
The drama began early in the race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez when Lawson had been forced into the pits after colliding with Carlos Sainz on the opening lap, which led to his Racing Bulls car needing a new front wing. However, when he came back out from the pits after getting his damaged wing replaced, things took a shocking turn.
When Lawson exited the pit lane and approached Turn 1, two marshals were seen running across the track to clear debris from the earlier collision, and the New Zealander hit the brakes immediately to avoid what could have been a terrifying accident.
A visibly shaken Lawson said over his team radio, “I could have f*****g killed them,” and after the race, he told reporters that the situation was “pretty unacceptable” and said that he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he said. “I got to Turn 1 and there were two dudes just running across the track. And I nearly hit one of them. Honestly, it was so dangerous. Obviously, there’s been a miscommunication somewhere, but I’ve never experienced that before, I’ve only seen that in the past. It’s pretty unacceptable.”
FIA officials later apologized to Lawson and explained that the marshals had been dispatched before realizing a car was still on track, and the race control reportedly issued double yellow flags as soon as they noticed Lawson exiting the pitlane, but by then, the marshals were already crossing.
The Mexican Federation Fires Back on Liam Lawson
That explanation wasn’t enough for OMDAI Sport Mexico, and they soon released a detailed statement criticizing Lawson’s reaction and his behavior during the incident, where the federation claimed Lawson failed to slow down enough when the double yellow flags were shown, and published screenshots from his onboard camera to support its view.
OMDAI’s statement read, “When analysing the sequence from the camera onboard the car, it can be seen that driver Liam Lawson, as he approaches Turn 1, begins to turn to take the racing line, at which point the presence of the track marshals is clearly visible as they carry out their intervention procedures to collect the pieces that had been left behind as a result of the previous contact.”
“This action occurs while personnel were still working in the area, which shows that the driver did not interrupt his line despite the obvious presence of marshals on the track,” the statement continued. The FIA’s own stewards chose not to investigate his actions during the race, and the fact that officials personally apologized to him seemed to confirm he wasn’t at fault.
However, OMDAI still believes that Lawson should have slowed down even more or adjusted his line when approaching the corner, and the federation’s tone clearly hints at frustration with the driver’s criticism.
The FIA is still investigating the incident to determine what exactly went wrong in communication between race control and the trackside marshals, as incidents involving marshals are rare but taken extremely seriously, and the governing body will likely tighten its protocols before the next race weekend.
The investigation will continue behind the scenes, but it’s clear that the moment in Mexico has left more questions than answers, and the governing body faces immense pressure to clarify what went wrong that day.
