Spanish Grand Prix 2012, Catalunya - Race 5/20
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FIA statement on the Williams fire says 31 people treated at medical centre. One Williams mechanic has a heavily bandaged leg.
Press Release
2012 Spanish Grand Prix
13/05/2012
Montmelo, May 13th - The FIA can confirm that a fire broke out in the Williams garage after the conclusion of the Spanish Grand Prix. The flames were quickly brought under control through the combined intervention of staff from Williams, Caterham and Force India, supported by the circuit fire services.
Thirty-one team members were seen by Circuit Medical Centre staff and all have been released, with the exception of seven who were transferred to a variety of local hospitals where they are receiving treatment.
The FIA is collaborating closely with the Spanish authorities investigating this incident and will be providing a further update as soon as more information becomes available.
2012 Spanish Grand Prix
13/05/2012
Montmelo, May 13th - The FIA can confirm that a fire broke out in the Williams garage after the conclusion of the Spanish Grand Prix. The flames were quickly brought under control through the combined intervention of staff from Williams, Caterham and Force India, supported by the circuit fire services.
Thirty-one team members were seen by Circuit Medical Centre staff and all have been released, with the exception of seven who were transferred to a variety of local hospitals where they are receiving treatment.
The FIA is collaborating closely with the Spanish authorities investigating this incident and will be providing a further update as soon as more information becomes available.
Christ that's a lot of people. I imagine most were merely precautionary, but I also expect that smoke was pretty nasty stuff; hopefully no-one has lasting injuries.
What a horrible turn around for Williams after such a great race
What a horrible turn around for Williams after such a great race
Man of Honour
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Could have been a lot worse. Crazy end to the race weekend.
Soldato
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Apparently all the spare carbon fibre parts are kept at the back of the garage, so that's gonna be all toast!
Good job Williams are pretty sharp at manufacturing there own parts!
Good job Williams are pretty sharp at manufacturing there own parts!
Soldato
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damn, i turned it off after i saw the results so i've only just found out about the fire. sounds like everyone is generally ok though so thats good 
So so wrong!!!
Well done that man. The pit guys have fire training etc, sky man just rocks up for a weekends filming
Love this bit from the bbc site....
The new tyres created by Pirelli this year have left all the teams scratching their heads.
One weekend you can be winning, the next you can be nowhere and not know why, as world champions Red Bull found out in Spain, following Sebastian Vettel's victory in Bahrain last time out.
As Alonso put it after the race: "We were 57 seconds behind Vettel in Bahrain, and we were lapping (his team-mate Mark) Webber here. No one understands probably. Not us either."
There is a recognition throughout the sport that this unpredictability is adding to the superficial appeal of F1, especially as the years of Michael Schumacher's domination with Ferrari are not so very long ago.
Nevertheless, there is also a growing sense of unease - largely unspoken publicly until now, apart from Schumacher's comments after Bahrain - that it's somehow not quite real.
The tyres, some feel, are introducing too much of a random element that demeans the sport in some ways. That F1, whisper it, may have gone too far the other way.
Fun, though, isn't it?
The new tyres created by Pirelli this year have left all the teams scratching their heads.
One weekend you can be winning, the next you can be nowhere and not know why, as world champions Red Bull found out in Spain, following Sebastian Vettel's victory in Bahrain last time out.
As Alonso put it after the race: "We were 57 seconds behind Vettel in Bahrain, and we were lapping (his team-mate Mark) Webber here. No one understands probably. Not us either."
There is a recognition throughout the sport that this unpredictability is adding to the superficial appeal of F1, especially as the years of Michael Schumacher's domination with Ferrari are not so very long ago.
Nevertheless, there is also a growing sense of unease - largely unspoken publicly until now, apart from Schumacher's comments after Bahrain - that it's somehow not quite real.
The tyres, some feel, are introducing too much of a random element that demeans the sport in some ways. That F1, whisper it, may have gone too far the other way.
Fun, though, isn't it?
I am finding it very, very dull. Stopped watching from the GP after 25 laps today and I usually watch start to finish even when it's a procession. I have probably watched 266-7 out of the last 270 GP's but I doubt I will sit down to watch another GP while this nonsense continues.
What do you want? F1 fans crave excitement, but when there's an element of surprise to it all, it's still boring, apparently.
fun how everyone **** schumacher off when he spoke out about the tyres.....
oh wow what a suprise all the reporters singing a different tune now its button
btw hamilton gets a 5 grid penalty at monaco for schumacher smashing into the back of senna
What do you want? F1 fans crave excitement, but when there's an element of surprise to it all, it's still boring, apparently.
Randomness doesn't equal excitement for me. It didn't surprise me that Williams won today, and it won't surprise me if a FI or Sauber wins in Monaco. It's a complete lottery at this stage and lottery draws are the dullness thing on TV for everyone except the winners.
I don't believe the current season is random. In every race weekend, for example, we've seen McLaren be strong. Nor are we seeing HRTs streak past Red Bulls.
The tyres are more condition sensitive than before, making the teams have to work harder to produce effective setups (which is why we can see the two cars of the same team so separated - e.g. Button vs. Lewis today) and meaning that the differences between cars come into play in different ways at different races.
We've always seen this to some extent, with different tracks playing to the strengths of one team or another; it's just a stronger effect this season. Combine that with a very evenly matched field and you get the variety of winners and losers that we're seeing.
This race wasn't won or lost on random factors, anymore than other years. Maldonado won by getting the pit stop strategy right. Vettel and Webber lost time to the need to get a new front wing. Hamilton lost a place to a mechanic not moving the wheel out of the way.
Do the tyre wear patterns make tyre management more important than other years? Yes, they do. Do I think that's a bad thing? No, I don't. You're still watching something that is ultimately down to driver skill and team strategists to manage to their advantage.