“I could have killed her”
Formula 1 star avoids tragedy
Updated 10/27/2025Reading time: 2 minutes
In Mexico, two marshals suddenly appeared in front of Liam Lawson’s car. The New Zealander reacted with presence of mind – and was stunned afterwards.
Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson may have prevented a tragedy at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday: On the third lap, the driver of the Racing Bulls team came into the pits after suffering front wing damage – and when returning to the track he raced just past two track helpers who were in the middle of the road.
Shortly after his stop, Lawson was entering turn one when the two helpers suddenly appeared directly in front of him. The New Zealander was only able to avoid a collision by reacting with presence of mind – he swerved to the right at the last moment. The 23-year-old expressed his disbelief over the radio: “Are you fucking kidding me? I could have killed her.”
The scene, which occurred in the middle of the turbulent start phase, was not initially broadcast on TV and was only picked up towards the end of the race. Commentator Sascha Roos was shocked on Sky: “That’s frightening. And that was really close. You don’t want that.” Expert Ralf Schumacher added that the marshals apparently did not expect Lawson to come out of the pits so quickly.
It initially remained unclear whether this was an organizational failure. As a rule, helpers are only allowed to enter the track once all cars have safely passed the area. The scene therefore raises questions about the coordination between race management and track staff.
The International Automobile Federation, which is responsible for safety on the racetrack, said marshals there should have removed the debris as soon as all the cars had passed turn one. “As soon as it became clear that Lawson had pitted, the instructions to send marshals onto the track were reversed and a double yellow flag was shown in that area. We are still investigating what happened after that point,” the statement said.
Lawson himself ended up 17th, so he remained inconspicuous in terms of sport – and yet he was one of the decisive protagonists of the weekend. When he came into the first corner, “there were two guys running across the track and I almost hit one of them,” Lawson later said. “This is unacceptable.” When asked, he emphasized that he wanted an explanation for the incident.