A McLaren Senna catches fire in the middle of a lap of the Red Bull Ring circuit

The incident took place during the activities held ahead of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Austria.

A car catching fire is painful, but when it happens to a supercar of which only 500 units were built, at a price of almost one million euros, it hurts even more.

As if it weren’t surprising enough that a McLaren Senna catches fire, in the middle of a demonstration lap just minutes before a Formula 1 Grand Prix was due to start, it happened right in front of the fans waiting for the race to begin. Thanks to some of them filming this parade, where the most exotic cars are displayed to be the object of admiring and envious glances, we can now witness what happened.

The show came sooner than expected

Thanks to the video we are showing, we can put ourselves in the fans’ place, at a distance and in the relative calm that comes from knowing the final outcome of the incident. This Sunday they watched as a McLaren Senna driven by former F1 driver Gerhard Berger began to catch fire on the surface of the Red Bull Ring circuit in Austria.

https://youtu.be/7c7eQWTRn6U

As can be seen in the video recorded by a fan, the car began to show considerable flames at its rear.

Far from being the always exciting but harmless flare-ups caused by unburnt petrol in the combustion chambers which, with the heat of the exhaust, produce small explosions at the end of the exhaust system, a fire broke out under the immense and enormous rear wing of the McLaren Senna, which generates 800 kg of downforce when it reaches 250 km/h.

Thanks to the quick response of the team at one of the marshal posts and the fire crews, the flames were put out before the fire on the McLaren Senna could spread any further.

A fire that could have been much worse

In fact, judging by the photographs the owner of the car has posted on his Instagram profile, the fire caused cosmetic damage that did not seriously affect the car. Both Berger and his passenger got out of the car unharmed and under their own power.

In any case, the McLaren Senna driven by Berger has already been taken to the manufacturer’s facilities for an inspection to establish, first, the origin of the fire and, second, whether the car has suffered more damage than is apparent.

Whatever the case, the incident witnessed this weekend, on the track of the circuit formerly known as the A1 Ring, with the local pilot and idol, moments before the main race was due to start, leaves spectators with a memory, besides the excitement experienced during the Formula 1 race, of seeing a McLaren Senna catch fire in front of their seats while, powerless, they watched as, metre by metre, the car reached a marshal post where the track crews put out the flames of such an exclusive car.