Spanish Grand Prix triumph that nearly turned to tragedy costly for F1 team boss Frank Williams

FRESH from his Spanish grand prix win, Sir Frank Williams is trying to rebuild his team quickly, after the team shed was destroyed in a fiery inferno.

Pastor Maldonado claims first GP

SIR Frank Williams faces a race against time to get his team ready for the biggest grand prix of the year after the fire that destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment.

From celebrating a first victory for eight years, Williams was back at his desk yesterday organising the replacement of tonnes of valuable tools and the $A1.6 million car of Bruno Senna that was destroyed by an explosion in a fuel storage area of the Williams garage on Sunday night shortly after Pastor Maldonado won the Spanish Grand Prix.

Thirty one people were treated at the circuit's medical centre, mainly for smoke inhalation, but seven mechanics were still in hospital yesterday, one with severe burns.

It was a bizarre and almost tragic end to an extraordinary day. Maldonado was given no chance by the pundits yet pulled off a victory that will live long in the memory, particularly for Williams who has spent the past few years struggling to rebuild what was once the dominant team in Formula One.

Now he faces another rapid rebuilding job of his team, both physically and psychologically, so that they are ready for the Monaco Grand Prix, the jewel in Formula One's crown, next week. F1 is often at its best in a crisis and other teams were offering their assistance even before they left the Circuit de Catalunya late on Sunday night. Time is short, though, with trucks leaving for the Cote d'Azur at the end of the week, so Williams will barely be able to savour a welcome victory. "We needed that win, I promise you," he said.

Lewis Hamilton was repairing emotions in his own team over the weekend. Stripped of his pole position and sent to the back of the grid, his brilliant drive to eighth was overshadowed by events, but keeps him in the fight for the World Championship and possibly could keep him at McLaren, where he is in the final year of his five-year, $A121 million contract.

Hamilton, who has been the fastest qualifier three times this season, just wants his luck to turn after five grands prix in which error has been followed by calamity. Even after a radical reorganisation of McLaren's pitstop crew and procedures, he still managed to run over a stray wheel, losing a couple of crucial seconds.

"I am just looking at the season and I want to win the championship," he said. "We could have a healthy lead in the championship if we had capitalised on the performances we had in qualifying. At some stage, things will come together for our team."

Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team principal, said that while Hamilton's head could have gone down over the punishment, it was the driver who comforted him. "It is a pretty tough thing to happen to a driver," Whitmarsh said. "I have to say he had some greatness I had not seen before."