Electrical fire breaks out in McLaren hospitality unit with team ‘safely evacuated’

McLaren staff, including CEO Zak Brown, seen discussing the fire incident which forced a team evacuation from hospitality.

McLaren was forced to evacuate its hospitality unit on Saturday morning as a small fire broke out in the building.

The centre of the Barcelona paddock was enveloped in smoke ahead of the third practice session as a fire forced emergency intervention from attending fire crews.

McLaren confirms team hospitality evacuation

Additional reporting by Sam Cooper.

The local fire brigade in Montmelo attended the scene, which occurred less than an hour ahead of third practice at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

At this early stage of investigating the cause of the fire, an electrical issue within the wiring of the building is suspected as being the origin of the fire.

McLaren confirmed an incident had occurred, with a statement to PlanetF1.com saying: “This morning a fire was detected in our trackside Team Hub.

“The team hub was evacuated of all staff and guests, and circuit emergency services attended the scene within minutes. The circuit emergency services and local fire department have since extinguished the fire.

“One McLaren team member has been taken to hospital as a precaution, and all McLaren personnel and guests are accounted for.

“We would like to thank all the marshals and emergency services for their quick and professional response. We would also like to thank Formula 1, the FIA, and our competitors who have offered to help our team and guests this weekend.”

The incident did not affect McLaren’s on-track running in third practice, with both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris embarking on their usual practice programme without delay.

Observations made by PlanetF1.com at the scene suggested an attending fire crew member was receiving oxygen while sitting in the back of an ambulance as the incident was brought under control.

An update from Rachel Brookes via Sky F1 after FP3 clarified what had unfolded.

“Just before 12 o’clock local time, the fire appeared to start,” she said.

“There were plenty of members of team personnel inside, there were members of the media as well, as the team hosts a brunch for the media on a Saturday morning at European races.

“Everyone was evacuated immediately. I was told by a member of the team that it appears to have started between the floors of the hospitality unit and, as such, has been proving to be very difficult to find the source of it.

“The fire brigade cleared away during FP3 but they returned pretty swiftly. We can still see gusts of smoke coming out and a couple of fire personnel in full breathing apparatus have just gone back in to try and deal with it.

“The team is still not allowed back into that hospitality unit – the Formula One building will be hosting the McLaren team.

“They will be housed and looked after by others in the paddock – such is the way of Formula 1, it is one big family and the McLaren team will be well looked after by everybody else but, for now, I’m sure they just want to get back into the unit and see what the damage is and see how much work they have to do.

“It’s the first race of three, a triple-header in Europe, where these trucks pick up these units to take them to the next race. so McLaren really wants to find out just how much damage is inside.

“The driver’s rooms are inside, the drivers were able to take part in the FP3 session but they have all their belongings in there as well as the rest of the team.

“All personnel are accounted for and are well. Four fire personnel from the circuit were treated for smoke inhalation – two were taken to hospital, and two were released here at the track.

“The two were taken to hospital just for further treatment and further examination.”

PlanetF1.com has approached the FIA for comment on the situation.

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