Firefighters were rushed to the McLaren headquarters at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday as an electrical fire broke out ahead of the third free practice session of the weekend.
Smoke was spotted creeping out of the floor at the hospitality unit, forcing the staff, guests and members of the media inside to evacuate into the paddock, where a crowd gathered to spectate the fire.
In response, McLaren released a statement, which read: “This morning we evacuated our Team Hub paddock hospitality unit following a fire alert, the team has been safely evacuated while the local fire brigade handle the issue.”
Sky Sports F1 reporter Rachel Brookes offered a greater insight into how the fire unfolded, explaining: “I have just spoken to someone who was inside at the time, a member of staff for the team and they were in the kitchen at the time. They tell me the smoke seemed to come from between the floors.
“They think it was electrical and that probably explains why it was so difficult to put out and find in the first place, because it seemed to come from between the floors, into the ground and into the hospitality area, which was busy at the time with media and guests and the drivers as well.
“To see Lando Norris just standing over to the side of me a few moments ago, their driver rooms are on that ground floor of course, if they are to get out for practice they need to get in there and get their helmets and race suits and everything from inside.
“The main issue at the moment is can the drivers get in and get their stuff, or can they get spares elsewhere on the trucks or across the garage for this final practice session?
“Everybody from McLaren are OK and safe, they got out OK as well, a couple of fire personnel who went in to help have been taken away on oxygen and treatment for difficulty breathing.
“But when they came past us, being wheeled out, just having some help breathing with oxygen as they were overcome with smoke acrid. We could smell it from way over in our TV compound, which is quite a way away and in the paddock it was very strong, but appears to have been put out now.”
The fire is an unwanted distraction for Zak Brown, who hopes that his drivers can challenge Max Verstappen to win at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Both Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri showed impressive long-run pace during the first two practice sessions in the Spanish sun, while Mercedes also look to be a threat for a second race weekend in succession.
