Three McLaren Employees Hospitalised After Fire

On Friday, during a filming day, a fire broke out in the McLaren team’s garage. As a result, three McLaren personnel needed treatment after getting caught in it.

According to sources, the fire broke out at around 4PM local time. McLaren later confirmed that the three victims were being treated at the medical centre. In a spot of good news, they have since been released.

“There was a small fire in the garage during the team’s private filming day,” a team spokesperson said. “The fire was quickly extinguished by the team, and circuit emergency services and medical teams attended immediately in support. Three team members were taken to the medical center for treatment and were released shortly after.”

In the aftermath of the incident, the team is trying to assess the MCL34 chassis. This is in order to understand the extent of damage done, if any. It is currently unclear on the possibility of the team having a spare chassis. If by chance, the car was affected, a spare would be needed to carry out testing next week. The second pre-season test commences on the coming Tuesday.

Sport Pesa Racing Point and RoKit Williams were nearby, carrying out their own filming days at the circuit. Both teams have offered their assistance in helping the Woking outfit. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished by the time they reached the McLaren garage.

Now, the only question that remains to be asked is, what triggered the blaze. To that effect, the incident is currently under investigation by the McLaren team.

Coincidentally, a fire broke out in the Williams garage at the same circuit back in 2012. This incident occurred barely minutes after the team seized a surprise win with Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado.

Hopefully, McLaren will get to the bottom of the issue and be able to fix everything in time for the second test.