Blazing row over fire at Spanish Grand Prix

FORMULA One staff have hit out at the ‘incompetent’ response to a fire at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

The blaze – which injured 31 people, including one seriously – broke out in the Williams pit garage around 90 minutes after the race in Barcelona.

Among those injured was a Force India team member, with boss Bob Fearnley fiercely critical of the response at the circuit.

“Incompetent would be a very polite way of saying what these people have done here,” he said. “There’s no training, no procedures. I went down to see how my man was and I had to fight my way in.”

Formula One photographer James Moy, who was in the Williams garage moments before the explosion said: “I reckon it probably took circuit staff or firemen at least 12 minutes to get there.

“The only people there at that time were mechanics, fighting a fire in shorts and t-shirts.”