Seavixen32, is your grandson OK?

Many thanks for your concern Bill.

Yes, he's fine. The main worry was smoke inhalation and seven team members are still in hospital.

It rather takes the gloss off Maldonado's win, which was the first for Williams since 2004.

I'd missed your post until Julian reminded me. :)

IownAmoneyPit said:

seavixen32 so glad to hear your grandson is OK and Kudos to all members of other teams/garages who risked their own health and safety to use every available fire extinguisher to help put the fire out and prevent further casualties.

It was gratifying to see that. As with every dangerous occupation, everyone will always pitch in and help when the need arises, and looking at how bad the fire was it's amazing there weren't any fatalities.

It appears that a KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) unit in the re-fuelling area caused the fire. Whether it was static electricity or a spark has yet to be established.

http://formula1.about.com/od/car1/a/kers.htm

Thanks Joan.

There's a picture in today's paper of Frank Williams being pushed away from the fire. Apparently, he took his family to Spain as part of his 70th birthday celebrations.

Matt was telling me that his boss tours the workshop in his wheelchair every day to check on progress and make sure all his staff are happy. He remarked that although Frank is in a lot of pain and is not a well man he is nevertheless a real nice person.

Not a bad legacy is that, I'd say.

Glad your grandson is ok and I hope the others make a full recovery. Frank sounds like a lovely man, taking time out to check on his team.

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I do appreciate it as I'm sure the Williams team would too.

Thankfully, F1 racing is a lot safer now than in the days of the 1960s and 1970s, but incidents like this show there is no room for complacency.