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2 Kimi Raikkonen
3 Felipe Massa

Seven hospitalised after Williams blaze

Monday 14th May 2012

Seven hospitalised after Williams blaze

Seven hospitalised after Williams blaze

An investigation has been launched into the cause of a fire that wrecked Williams' post-Spanish GP celebrations and put seven people in the hospital.

Having claimed the victory on Sunday with Pastor Maldonado behind the wheel - Williams' first since the 2004 Brazilian GP - the team had cause to celebrate.

However, the celebrations were cut short when a fire broke out in their garage about an hour after the race had concluded.

Williams personnel as well as members from others teams were quickly on hand to deal with the blaze, which the Grove team has confirmed was caused by a fuel leak.

31 people were treated by Catalunya Circuit medical staff while seven of those were taken to hospital to receive treatment.

According to the Catalonia's regional government, one of those persons was airlifted to the Barcelona hospital with serious burn wounds.

Motorsport's governing body says they will investigate the cause of the blaze.

An FIA statement said: "The flames were quickly brought under control and the FIA is collaborating closely with the Spanish authorities investigating this incident."

Williams were quick to thank all those who helped as other teams' personnel rushed to the scene to offer their assistance.

"The Williams F1 Team would like to thank all of the teams and the FIA for their support in the incident," said the team in a statement.

However, there has been some criticism levelled as the circuit's fire crews with Force India's deputy team principal Bob Fearnley saying they were slow to react.

He said: "There's no training, no procedures. I went down to see how my man is, and I had to fight my way in.

"We need to look seriously at the training of people at the circuits. I'm not impressed at all."

Related Links
Gallery: Serious fire in F1 paddock

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