Fear the McLaren! Motorhome fire in the middle of the Spanish F1 GP

MD is in the Formula 3 paddock, just outside the F1 paddock, waiting for Mari Boya after his victory in the short race of the bronze category of the World Cup ladder, when suddenly, intense orange smoke and a strong smell of plastic made everyone look at the same place. This is the McLaren hospitality (also called motorhome), located in the central part of the F1 paddock. It was burned.

The fire started behind the hospitality due to an electrical problem, apparently a short circuitand at that time you could clearly see a column of smoke coming out of the lower part as well, from the main door of the motorhome, indicating how far the smoke had spread throughout the construction.

A crew of firefighters quickly arrived at the hospitality area, evacuated staff, and Grand Prix security staff established a perimeter to keep all journalists and spectators at a safe distance. and allow firefighters and ambulances to quickly enter and exit the paddock’s central walkway, between the motorhomes and engineering trucks.

Andrea Stella assured that “everything was ok” and there were no problems, which everyone was afraid of after all The team quickly left the hospitality when they saw smoke, with them, a Lando Norris who they saw running out of that construction. People in surrounding motorhomes were also evacuated as a precaution.

Three firefighters were evacuated

So far, three firefighters, who first appeared to put out the fire, left the scene in an ambulance with oxygen masks due to smoke inhalation.

All this happened less than half an hour before the start of Free Practice 3 of the Spanish F1 GP. Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, remained outside the hospitality area with more team personnel to understand what the situation was, waiting for news from the firefighters.