FIA: Liam Lawson not at fault in incident with the marshals

      During the race in Mexico City, Liam Lawson was involved in a dangerous incident, nearly running over marshals who were crossing the track in front of him. The FIA opened an inquiry into the incident, and the Automobile Club of Mexico (OMDAI Sport Mexico) published a statement several days later, accusing the Racing Bulls driver of creating a dangerous incident.

      On Friday evening the FIA issued its statement, which can be seen as a response to the Mexican auto club. It emphasizes that the investigation is ongoing, but even now it can be said that Liam Lawson is not to blame for the incident.

      "The investigation is ongoing, and we recognise that any situation in which marshals are on the track in front of approaching cars is not something we want to see, and therefore, of course, such an incident has caused concern and considerable comment," the FIA said in its published statement. "Fortunately, the incident did not lead to serious consequences, but we are conducting an internal investigation to fully understand what happened and to identify areas where procedures can be improved.

      We are openly and transparently cooperating with OMDAI and the Racing Bulls team, striving to achieve the common goal of continuously improving the safety of our sport.

      As with all serious incidents, a full analysis will take some time, as it involves gathering and analysing all evidence, including radio communications in different languages between various parties and synchronising all of this diverse data. The findings will be published upon completion of the investigation.

      However, after analysing the telemetry from the incident, we can confirm that the driver of car No. 30, Liam Lawson, reduced his speed sufficiently and reacted correctly to the double yellow flags in that section of the circuit, braking earlier than on other laps and taking the first corner significantly slower than racing speed.

      He is not at fault in this incident.

      Finally, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the volunteers and marshals for their professionalism and dedication. Without them our sport would not be safe."