MCLAREN USING RENTED MOTORHOME AS CLEAN-UP OF FIRE-DAMAGED F1 TEAM HUB CONTINUES
McLaren is using a rented motorhome for Formula 1's Austrian Grand Prix as work continues on a deep clean of its fire-damaged Team Hub.
A suspected electrical problem between floors of its regular motorhome in Barcelona on Saturday morning triggered a fire that had to be attended to by emergency crews.
Although everyone was safely evacuated from the motorhome without injury as the fire was put out, although one team member required precautionary hospital checks for smoke inhalation, the motorhome was put out of action for the remainder of the race weekend.
While efforts were made to clean the motorhome in the Barcelona paddock prior to it being dismantled, it has since been shipped back to Germany for further servicing and a deep clean.
Work has been ongoing this week to try to get it back into action, with some hope that it may even be ready for next weekend's British Grand Prix. If it fails to make it back in time for Silverstone, then it should still be good for one of the races before the summer break.
In the meantime, McLaren is using a rented motorhome from the German Schuler company, which provides its engineering base, known as the Performance Centre, on race weekends.
McLaren motorhome
Photo by: Jon Noble
While the temporary motorhome is smaller than the Team Hub, fewer guests for the Austrian GP compared to other races means McLaren will be able to get through the weekend with minimal disruption. The facility has room for engineers and can feed mechanics when necessary.
Drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have had their driver rooms moved to the Performance Centre for now, where team principal Andrea Stella also has his office.
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While F1 is super competitive on track right now, Stella has praised the spirit of his rivals off-circuit for the way they pulled together to help his squad in Spain.
With other teams and the FIA helping out with either loaning facilities or space for team personnel and guests, Stella said he was taken aback by how everyone else pulled around to help.
"The assistance, the solidarity, the sympathy, the support we received from each and every one of all the other teams, F1, and the FIA, it gave us, I think a genuine true emotion," he said. "We were touched.
"I was talking with another member of the team about the sense of community that we have in this paddock, and that sometimes we forget about that because we are here to compete with each other."
