The drama stepped up a notch even after the chequered flag in Barcelona.

A couple of hours after Williams’ first win since 2004, something exploded in the British team’s garage, triggering a major fire.

Team members and fire crews battled the blaze as paddock regulars scrambled away from the heavy smoke and police arrived on the scene.

The Telegraph’s Tom Cary said on Twitter there are “multiple injuries”.

It is believed Williams, Force India and Caterham staff – some of whom bravely fought the fire – are being treated in the medical centre, some for smoke inhalation.

An emergency helicopter will ferry others to hospital.

“Couple of our guys got injuries, burns and maybe one broken wrist, no news on Williams guys I hope they’re ok,” wrote Caterham’s Heikki Kovalainen on Twitter.

Rumours indicated the fire could have been caused by a KERS explosion, or possibly fuel, as a burned fuel rig was pulled from the gutted garage.

Carbonell and HRT Formula 1 Team have signed a collaboration deal through which the leading olive oil brand will have its image present on the drivers’ overalls, whilst also forming a part of the exclusive culinary experience that the team has created alongside Arzak-Bokado.

The squad of Arzak-Bokado chefs travel with the team and have their operational base in the new motorhome hospitality during European races, whereas in overseas races they use the facilities provided by each circuit to maintain the same quality service. They offer a gastronomic experience that meets the different needs of team members and exclusive guests of the team, using fresh national products of the highest quality that characterize the extraordinary and renowned Spanish cuisine, whilst also leaning upon chefs and suppliers at each of the 19 countries visited throughout the season.

Besides the different menus, the gourmet experience also includes gastronomic activities at the circuit such as the “show cooking” or the “lightning pintxo”, which HRT offers every Grand Prix Sunday before the race for team members, guests, international press and organizers who travel the globe covering Formula 1 all to enjoy.

The presence of Carbonell, world leader in olive oil, will provide an extra contribution to that gastronomic experience whilst also enjoying an unbeatable platform for the brand because of the quality and worldwide reach of the team’s activities in a setting such as Formula 1. Carbonell has chosen the pinnacle of motorsport and HRT Formula 1 Team, the first and only team in the history of this competition to have its headquarters in Spain, to begin this unique culinary experience in Formula 1 and will also be the team’s exclusive brand for olive oil, olives and vinegar.

The agreement, which was signed by José María Collantes, Managing Director of Deoleo S.A, and Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal of HRT Formula 1 Team, at the team’s new headquarters in the Caja Mágica in Madrid, is valid until the end of 2012 with an option to extend. With this, Carbonell becomes the first Spanish food brand to be present in the Formula 1 World Championship.

Jose María Collantes, Managing Director Deoleo S.A: “The partnership between HRT, Carbonell and Arzak will enable to strengthen the link between Formula 1 and the gastronomic world thanks to HRT with an exclusive gourmet experience through which Carbonell will take part in every aspect related to the team’s kitchen, as well as all the culinary activities at the Grands Prix. By supporting such a popular sport as Formula 1, Carbonell will have great visibility and will secure its place as an innovative brand in the world of olive oil, vinegar and olives”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal HRT: “It’s a great satisfaction for HRT to begin a partnership with Carbonell, a world renowned Spanish brand in the food sector. This association offers an opportunity to make the most of and strengthen the synergies of both companies on a worldwide base. Besides, Carbonell integrates perfectly with our gastronomic partners, Arzak-Bokado, to offer a gourmet experience made up of Spanish cuisine and fusion in the different countries where we compete. We thank Carbonell for the confidence they have deposited in us and we will continue to work hard to be competitive in an extremely demanding environment. With everyone’s effort we will reach our targets”.

ABOUT CARBONELL

For more than 145 years Carbonell has been present in kitchens and has created its oil taking close care of every step. Today, as a result of that experience and also of an innovation, Carbonell creates its oil following the Exclusive Carbonell Method® through which the best olives are chosen based on the origin, variety and moment of picking and a unique elaboration process is followed with which the essence of the olive is conserved.

Thereby, Carbonell is the brand that transforms dishes, in short, they give them soul, contributing some specific benefits (more nutrition; more pleasure; makes the normal special; turns the experience of eating into something sublime). Carbonell, the soul of your kitchen.

Carbonell belongs to Deoleo S.A., a Spanish food group that lists on the Spanish stock market and that is a worldwide leader in bottled olive oil, and that counts with the leading brands in the areas and markets where it operates, offering top quality products.

Lewis Hamilton is rethinking McLaren’s scheduled approach to the rare and crucial in-season test at Mugello next week.

The British team announced last week that both Hamilton and his teammate Jenson Button would sit out Mugello, so that testers Gary Paffett and Oliver Turvey can run over the three-day session instead.

But that was before Bahrain, where McLaren’s early-season upper hand vanished, leaving the drivers and team members scratching their heads over the way the MP4-27 ate rapidly through the Pirelli tyres.

“It (the Mugello schedule) might change,” British newspapers report Hamilton as saying.

“I need to get back in the car. We need to figure out why the tyres are going off.

“If there are other things to test or ways to figure it out, I will be the one to do it, not let someone else do it,” said the 2008 world champion.

A McLaren source indicated that if Hamilton wants to test in Italy, the programme will be altered to accommodate him.

Button, however, appears unavailable to test, as he is scheduled to attend a promotional team event in Budapest early next week.

Sauber has become the second formula one team to reveal a brush with Bahrain’s civil unrest.

Force India was involved in a Molotov cocktail attack earlier this week, resulting in two team members returning to the UK and Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta sitting out the second practice session on Friday.

Now, the Swiss team Sauber has revealed it saw masked protesters throwing petrol bombs whilst returning from the circuit to their Manama hotel late on Thursday.

“At 20.50 the 12 mechanics, being on that minibus to the Novotel, noticed fire on the medial strip of the highway,” said spokesman Hanspeter Brack.

“On the opposite lane there was no traffic. The team members saw a few masked people running from there over to their lane where a bottle was burning as well.”

No one was hurt.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone on Friday played down the latest drama, accusing reporters of “wanting a story” and offering to ride in the cars with the frightened Force India team members if they are afraid of Bahrain’s night.

A member of the Force India team is returning to Europe following a firebomb attack in Bahrain.

The BBC reports that an incident occurred near a Force India hire car as members of the Silverstone based team came to a halt in a traffic jam after leaving the circuit.

No one was hurt, but “one team member not involved in the incident asked to return to the UK”, the BBC said.

“A spokesman said they were not the target of the attack, which took place on the outskirts of the capital Manama,” the report added.

The news was confirmed by The Times’ Kevin Eason, who said the incident involved a Molotov cocktail, as well as Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary.

Cary said Force India confirmed team members were “momentarily caught up in (a) disruption”.

“One team member will go home, they tell me,” he added.

Damon Hill has changed his mind yet again on the controversial issue of Bahrain’s return to formula one later this month.

Amid the debate about the island Kingdom’s return to the calendar in the wake of the cancelled 2011 event, the 1996 world champion said initially: “F1 must align itself with progression, not repression”.

But he changed his tune after travelling with FIA president Jean Todt to Bahrain, insisting the situation on the ground had changed since the 2011 protests.

“The grand prix is of huge economic importance to Bahrain. You’d almost be putting an economic sanction on Bahrain by pulling the race,” said Hill.

But the Briton has now changed his mind again, apparently after the latest reports of violence on the streets and the reaction in the international media.

Hill is quoted by the Guardian newspaper: “It would be a bad state of affairs, and bad for formula one, to be seen to be enforcing martial law in order to hold the race.

“Looking at it today you’d have to say that (the race) could be creating more problems than it’s solving.”

The former Williams driver is scheduled to attend this month’s Bahrain grand prix as a television analyst, but Hill brushed aside any thoughts about his lucrative contract with the British broadcaster Sky.

“Some things are more important than contracts.”

He also expressed misgivings about a recent media briefing in London, in which Bernie Ecclestone and team bosses stood with the Bahrain organisers and insisted the race is going ahead despite the continuing controversy.

Damon said that event was “troubling insofar as it tried to represent the rioting in Bahrain as the result of bad press reporting and as a ‘youth’ issue.

“I hope the FIA are considering the implications of this fully and that events in Bahrain are not seen as they are often sold, as a bunch of yobs throwing molotov cocktails, because that’s a gross simplification.”

Writing in O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, Brazilian correspondent Livio Oricchio admitted he thinks it would be “almost reckless” for F1 to travel to Bahrain this month.

“At Sepang,” he wrote, “many team members were very concerned. They said their insurance companies had expressed concern about going to an Arab country in a belligerent state.

“Personally, I don’t think we will be attacked, but it is the goal of the protesters to do anything so that the grand prix is not run.

“The Arab Spring is very much alive in this small country in the Persian Gulf,” he admitted.

And the Times of London’s Kevin Eason wrote on Twitter: “I have been thinking F1 should give Bahrain a chance but I am not convinced now that safety can be guaranteed.”

HRT team members had their fingers crossed this week that the 2012 car would pass the FIA’s mandatory crash tests.
Most of the Spanish team’s rivals have already begun testing their new single seaters, but at Jerez Pedro de la Rosa had to be content with the outdated 2011 machine.

“If it (the new car) passes (the FIA tests), we will have the car at the next test in Barcelona,” said the Spanish driver.

“It is very important that we pass the tests even though we know it’s not easy given that some top teams failed at the first attempt.

“We need every mile,” de la Rosa was quoted in Spanish reports.

But bad news about two of the crash tests emerged late on Thursday, meaning de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan will not get their hands on the 2012 car at the forthcoming Barcelona test.

New rules in 2012 mean teams cannot test their new cars until they are fully homologated by the FIA.

After months of evaluations and negotiations in which diverse options have been assessed, Spanish team HRT has finally opted for the facilities of the Complejo Deportivo Madrid Caja Mágica to locate its permanent headquarters.

The team will occupy part of the Caja Mágica facilities and will coexist with the Masters 1000 Madrid Open. HRT F1 Team will be specifically situated in the Indoor Sur and Indoor Central buildings, occupying a total surface of 11,000m2.

In only seven months, the new directors have carried out a restructuring process with the objective of providing the team with stability and viability, besides having a new identity. To reach these targets, a lot of hard work has been focused on three fronts in these last three months: the new car, the renewed operational and technical team and a permanent headquarters which, besides from uniting the whole team in a workspace with F1 standards, will contribute an added value to the team.

With the signing of Pedro de la Rosa this past October a long desired objective was accomplished, which was none other than to incorporate a Spanish driver. The recent addition of Narain Karthikeyan completes a driver line-up packed with experience, which is of great value in this new chapter for the team.

The renewal of the technical team started once the 2011 season was over and the new team members have been working ever since at the temporary logistical base in Paterna, Valencia, until the definitive relocation to the permanent headquarters is carried out. The chosen venue had to meet very specific and ambitious requirements.

And the Complejo Deportivo Madrid Caja Mágica meets the requirements that HRT Formula 1 Team considers indispensable for this new chapter. It is a versatile and sustainable space that will take in the different departments that make up the team besides being an area open to fans, sponsors, suppliers and collaborators.

Remodeling and adaptation of the space will begin immediately and it is calculated that in under a month the first workers will be able to move in. The technical and operational sectors of the team won’t do so until Formula 1 returns to Europe but the headquarters is expected to be fully operational for May. The Technical Design Office is anticipated to move in progressively as of early June, thus completing a programme which is calculated to generate more than a hundred jobs with different degrees of specialization.

The headquarters won’t only be a technological and R&D centre, but also a way of getting closer to the public, sponsors, suppliers and collaborators with accessible areas such as a future museum, guided tours or a conference area, whilst also becoming a formation centre.

Electric mobility and sustainability are fundamental aspects for HRT and something it shares with the Complejo Deportivo Caja Mágica. The team is a pioneer in the Formula 1 world after integrating alternative energies to petrol in its mobility plan and using electric bicycles to move around both at Grands Prix and away from them.

The Complejo Deportivo Madrid Caja Mágica is a multifunctional centre designed by the architect Dominique Perrault. It is located in the Parque Lineal del Manzanares, in a space of 17 hectares which includes large garden areas. The design and distribution of this space enables the celebration of all kinds of events, not only sporting ones, such as presentations, spectacles and conventions.

Saúl Ruiz de Marcos, HRT F1 Team CEO: “For us it is fundamental to have a headquarters that, apart from uniting the team and ending with the dispersion, is beneficial from a logistical and industrial point of view. But that also enables us to maintain a closer relationship with our fans, suppliers and sponsors. Madrid and the Caja Mágica facilities fit perfectly with the standards we were looking for. In the last few months we have assessed different options, looked at their pros and cons, and we feel that the decision to establish our permanent headquarters in Madrid was the best one. I want to thank Madrid Espacios y Congresos for the interest they have shown in this going ahead and I’m sure that this relationship will be very beneficial for everyone”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal of HRT F1 Team: “We’ve been working hard for months and establishing our permanent headquarters was very important. Finding a space in which we could all work together was vital, in order to optimize work and generate a good team feeling, a sense of belonging. When the adaptation of the facilities is completed and every department starts working under the same roof in a few months, we will only have one step left to take, which is to have the design department in Madrid too. All this implies not only becoming a place to feel identified with and carry out activities for the team, its sponsors, suppliers and fans, but also an important reference in technology and R&D in the centre of Madrid”.

Little has changed at Korea’s Yeongam circuit since the calamitous inaugural grand prix a year ago.
Bild newspaper reports the ghastly news that, when some teams opened the fridges in their paddock offices this week, food left over from the 2010 event remained rotting on the shelves.

And Williams revealed that the stickers on the team’s hospitality suite still show Nico Hulkenberg driving for them, while the words ‘Mark Webber’ and ‘Sebastian Vettel’ on the floor of the garage had to be painted over by McLaren.

“It looks as though they locked the gates after the last race and simply unlocked them yesterday,” one source is quoted as saying.

Said Sebastian Vettel, who has won two world championships since last visiting Korea: “It’s funny, thinking about everything that has happened since then.”

Another bone of contention is the circuit’s location in Mokpo, hundreds of kilometres from Seoul and with the drivers all staying in the same five-star Hyundai hotel.

For the less affluent team members and journalists, they are still having to stay in so-called ‘love motels’, while the entire Williams team is staying in Gwangju, an hour from Yeongam.

“Here in the south it’s really a little too quiet,” said Vettel. “I think basically there hasn’t been a lot going on since we left.”

The fact Yeongam still seems barely finished has raised speculation about financial problems for the event.

“It is true that we are struggling in terms of profit because of the high investment and high cost structure,” said chief organiser Park Joon-yung.

The F1 world can expect a much better experience at the Korean grand prix this weekend.

When the barely-finished Yeongham venue hosted its inaugural race a year ago, officials, drivers, team members and journalists bemoaned the sub-standard facilities and organisation.

Another bone of contention was the so-called ‘love motels’ accommodation, normally frequented by prostitutes and their clients.

“Last year, we had many difficult problems holding the very first Korean grand prix,” race chairman Park Joon-yung told the local JoongAng daily.

“However, based on the experience and knowledge we gained last year, I am confident that the event this year will be much improved.”

The early reports from those checking into their hotels and arriving at the circuit this week is that the situation in Korea this year is vastly improved.

“We’re hoping for a slightly easier race this year than last. 2010 was very difficult for a number of reasons,” said FIA race director Charlie Whiting.

The weather should also be much better this weekend, after torrential rain disrupted last October’s inaugural race.

Sebastian Vettel’s title party at Suzuka was a slightly muted affair.

It featured techno music but didn’t compare to Abu Dhabi last year, when the Red Bull driver emerged as the surprise champion ahead of favourites Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber.

At Suzuka, the party had to play out with team members knowing they had to soon pack up and head off to South Korea, where practice kicks off in a few days.

On Monday, 24-year-old Vettel – only the ninth back-to-back world champion in F1 history – is already in Tokyo.

On Tuesday, he will travel to Yokohama for a sponsor appointment, before flying to Korea on Wednesday, according to the news agency DAPD.

“Don’t worry,” Dr Helmut Marko said at Suzuka late on Sunday. “Next we will get the constructors’ title and then we will celebrate properly.”

A death inside dominant formula one team Red Bull added to the emotion of Sebastian Vettel’s win at Monza recently, it has emerged.
As he closed almost definitively on his second consecutive title, the 24-year-old German cried on the podium in Italy, the scene of his first ever win three years ago.

“Yeah, very emotional,” he admitted afterwards.

At the time, however, Vettel did not mention that team members at Red Bull were grieving the recent loss of accounts staffer Erin Pezzella, who according to Cologne newspaper Express lost her battle with cancer during the Monza race week.

Pezzella was 31.

“She was with the team for four years,” confirmed team boss Christian Horner. “She lost a very brave fight against cancer and we would like to dedicate this result in her memory.”

Nico Rosberg is reportedly yet to receive a visa to enter India for the country’s inaugural formula one grand prix.
That is the claim of the Times of India, revealing that other F1 team members and journalists are experiencing simular difficulties whilst preparing to travel to Delhi next month.

The rumours had begun to emerge in the Monza paddock last weekend.

“I just came back from Monza where people have been complaining about how difficult it is to get visas for the trip to India,” said Team Lotus reserve driver Karun Chandhok, whose father Vicky is the head of India’s motor sport clubs.

Amid the recent tax and customs issue surrounding F1′s freight, the Indian government admitted this week that it does not regard the grand prix – organised by a fully private entity – as an “event of national importance”.

One figure who has had his visa application rejected, according to the Times of India, is Mercedes driver Rosberg.

The same is also true for “half” of the HRT team, the newspaper added.

Even the FIA’s head of communications is still waiting for his visa.

“If the government takes three weeks to process a visa application, almost 90 per cent of F1 people, me included, won’t attend the race,” Matteo Bonciani warned.

Stefano Domenicali on Wednesday refused to say whether Ferrari is committed to retaining Felipe Massa beyond 2011.
The Brazilian driver had a bad season in 2010, the year after his near-fatal accident, and team boss Domenicali suggested that he needs to improve.

During a press conference at the ‘Wrooom’ event in the Dolomites, the Italian did not directly answer three questions about Massa’s tenure beyond 2011.

“It would be wrong to say anything at the beginning of the season,” said Domenicali, admitting however that Massa will need to show comparably alongside his teammate Fernando Alonso.

“I hope it will be close between them; that he (Massa) will be as good, or maybe even faster than Fernando. But for sure we need two strong drivers to win the constructors’ title,” he added.

Domenicali’s comments were reported internationally, with La Gazzetta dello Sport quoting him as saying he “expects” Massa to be “always close” to Alonso this year.

Blick in Switzerland quoted Domenicali as saying 2011 “is an important season” for the 29-year-old, and according to Sao Paulo’s O Estado Domenicali said Massa has had talks with Ferrari management “as have other team members”.

“We must all learn from the mistakes of the past year and put it behind,” he added.

“I trust that, as in other situations in which he was under immense pressure and reacted very well, he will do the same now,” said Domenicali.

After rain affected the last three grand prix weekends, it is almost certain that the F1 world can expect a dry finale in Abu Dhabi.

Indeed, it almost never rains in the United Arab Emirate capital, where outside the cosmopolitan city lies endless miles of sandy desert.

Media reports say it hasn’t rained in Abu Dhabi for more than 120 days running, but – interestingly – a light shower is forecast for when the F1 fraternity congregates at Yas Marina on Thursday.

Beyond that, a dry and sunny weekend in the 20s is expected.

The F1 cars arrive in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, after a mad rush on Sunday to pack up the equipment in Brazil amid perhaps the tightest turnaround between races in the sport’s history.

At Interlagos on Sunday, Red Bull team members celebrated their constructors’ title win with loud music while they packed up just minutes after the chequered flag.

“We divided the team into three shifts to get everything done on time,” confirmed McLaren’s chief operating officer Simon Roberts.