Scary scenes unfolded at the Australian Grand Prix after two marshals were seen entering the track midway through the race to collect a piece of debris.

George Russell would go on to beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to claim victory in Formula One’s opening race of the season in Melbourne, with the pair having traded places six times throughout what was a thrilling afternoon of racing.

But a scary moment unfolded in the 34th lap of the race, when a piece of panelling appeared to fall off Sergio Perez’s rear wing.

The debris landed just on the side of the track and a virtual safety car was launched.

Two marshals were seen making their way onto the track to collect what was left of Perez’s wing.

One of the race coordinators came very close to a Mercedes that had just made its way around the corner during the lap. The car was only metres away from the marshal, who scooped up the debris before running off the track.

Sky Sports Formula One pundit Martin Brundle was left shocked after he saw two marshals entering the track during Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix 

It came after Sergio Perez (pictured) had lost a part of his rear wing during the race 

Sky Sports Formula One pundit Martin Brundle expressed his horror at the moment

Race directors will tend to use a virtual safety car if it is judged that they can remove any debris from the track while the cars are running at a slower pace.

Typically, when under a yellow flag, the drivers will drive 30 to 40 per cent slower and are unable to overtake.

However, the sight of two marshals on the track at the Australian Grand Prix was still very frightening.

Sky Sports Formula One pundit Martin Brundle expressed his horror at the moment.

‘You can’t put people out there,’ the ex-McLaren driver said while on commentary.

‘You cannot put people out there.’

Typically, hundreds of marshals are active around the circuit during a race day and provide roles from track maintenance to waving the chequered flag.

During last year’s Mexico City Grand Prix, New Zealand’s Liam Lawson came narrowly close to hitting two marshals during the race.

Liam Lawson came close to hitting a marshal during the Mexican Grand Prix in October

Meanwhile, Lando Norris (pictured) warned racing bosses that the new engine systems could cause a ‘big accident’

The FIA absolved the Racing Bulls driver of all blame, after the marshals had run across the track in front of him.

It came after the Organización Mexicana De Automovilismo Internacional (OMDAI) claimed that Lawson was responsible for the incident. OMDAI argued that Lawson had not ‘interrupted his driving line despite the obvious presence of marshals on the track’.

Formula One’s governing body later issued a statement, claiming that Lawson had ‘slowed appropriately and reacted correctly to the double yellow flags’.

The FIA added that the Kiwi driver, aged 24, was ‘not at fault in this incident’.

‘It’s pretty unacceptable,’ Lawson had said at the time. ‘We can’t understand how on a live track, marshals can be allowed to just run across the track like that. I have no idea why, I’m sure we’ll get some sort of explanation, but it really can’t happen again.’

While Russell’s victory dominated headlines on Sunday, multiple other drivers also expressed fears around Formula One’s new engine regulations, with Lando Norris warning racing bosses that the new systems could cause a ‘big accident’.

Formula One’s new rules on overtaking allow drivers to utilise half-electric engines to deliver a sudden boost of speed to jump ahead of rivals on the track, who are slowing down to regenerate their battery.

The new boost system creates a significant speed differential between the two cars on the track.

‘It is chaos, and we are going to have a big accident, which is a shame because we are driving and the ones just waiting for something to happen and to go quite horribly wrong and that is not a nice position to be in,’ Norris, who finished fifth, said.

‘Depending on what drivers do, you can have closing speeds of 30, 40, 50kph, and when someone hits another driver at that speed, you are going to fly and go over the fence and do a lot of damage to yourself and maybe to others and that is a pretty horrible thing to think about.’