Fire in the Williams garage after the race

As the Williams team celebrated the victory achieved by Pastor Maldonado this afternoon at the Circuit de Catalunya, a fire broke out in the English team’s garage. Thick smoke developed as a result of the fire, necessitating the evacuation of the pit lane and the intervention of firefighters.

For the moment, according to initial information, a mechanic from the Force India team has been taken to the circuit’s medical center following inhalation of smoke emitted by the fire. A member of the Williams team is also reportedly at the medical center. There are reportedly no other injuries according to initial information.

Update – 6:17 PM: The Williams team has just indicated that four people are currently at the circuit’s medical center, but they have no further information on their health status except that there is apparently no cause for concern.

UPDATE – 18:50: Contrary to earlier hypotheses formulated a few hours ago, the fire at Williams’ place was caused by gasoline and not by the KERS. In addition to the four people from the Williams team, an employee from Force India was taken to the medical center, as we mentioned earlier. The Caterham team was also affected, with four people at the Barcelona circuit’s medical center, three of whom are experiencing respiratory issues.

UPDATE – May 14th 1:20 PM

According to the initial statements from the Williams clan, everything was destroyed in the garage, as Dickie Standford, the team manager, told Auto Motor und Sport. However, the British team’s rivals have reportedly offered assistance so they can be ready and have the essentials for the next race, which will take place in Monaco in two weeks.

Mark Gillan, the chief engineer in charge of operations, told Autosport that the entire Williams team wants to thank everyone who came to help during the fire: «On behalf of Williams, I would like to thank all the members of the other teams for their help during the fire. We were overwhelmed by the support (from others). It was truly impressive. Williams would like to thank the teams, the FIA, the FOM, and everyone who came to assist.»