FIA Investigation Announced After Scary F1 Near Miss

Formula 1's governing body the FIA has revealed it will hold an investigation into a scary near-miss involving Liam Lawson and two marshals at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Racing Bulls driver Lawson was the first to retire from the race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez after sustaining damage on a frenetic opening lap.

But the day could have been so much worse for the Kiwi and the sport in general as he narrowly avoided a marshal deployed to pick up debris in a scary situation early on.

Disaster avoided

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls — Red Bull Content Pool

Before Lawson retired, he had been one of a number of drivers to have made contact at the first turn of the race. He had lost half of his front wing and, at the end of lap two, he pitted to replace the component.

That meant he was some half a minute behind the rest of the pack by the time he emerged from the pits, greeted with yellow flags into the first corner with debris strewn across the track.

But it appeared that the marshals had been unaware of his repair stop and therefore believed the track was clear to retrieve debris under the yellow flags, only for Lawson to encounter the duo as he raced through the apex.

The incident prompted a despairing team radio message, where he shouted: "What the f**k? Oh my god, are you kidding me?

"Did you just see that? I could have f**king killed him mate".

"I could have f**king killed them!"

Liam Lawson after two marshals ran across the track during the #MexicoGP 😳 pic.twitter.com/6wQdqvjQ9v
— Autosport (@autosport) October 26, 2025

Safety is taken seriously by all in F1 to ensure such scenarios don't arise and explaining the factors that led to the near miss, an FIA statement read: "Following a Turn 1 incident, race control was informed that debris was present on the track at the apex of that corner.

"On lap three, marshals were alerted and placed on standby to enter the track and recover the debris once all cars had passed Turn 1.

"As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had pitted, the instructions to dispatch marshals were rescinded, and a double yellow flag was shown in that area. We are still investigating what occurred after that point.

"We would like to underline our respect and appreciation for the local ASN, OMDAI, as well as the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez and their marshals, who are volunteers and play a vital role in the safe and successful running of our sport.

"Their professionalism and dedication are invaluable to every event we stage."

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