Pastor Maldonado once again was at the centre of an incident that saw the retirement of a driver from a race.
Anyone who heard Sergio Perez's comments about it will know just how unhappy he is, basically accusing Maldonado of being reckless with no consideration for safety of other drivers.
To me it did seem Maldonado was the one at fault, trying to shunt Perez off the outside.
So, what action should be taken (if any)? Would a grid penalty suffice or is time to consider a ban for Maldonado?
Maldonado
posted on 8/7/12
It is Maldonado's fault. He only had the inside line and was only ahead because he was going too fast to keep control through the apex. Therefore he should be given no credit for being ahead when collecting Perez.
He will always be 'just a pay driver' in my eyes.
posted on 8/7/12
If he keeps getting in crashes, then obviously he;s doing something wrong, i think a 1 race ban will make him see sense. There is such a thing as controlled agression, see Kobayashi as an example (just don't mention pit crews)
posted on 8/7/12
I agree, Kyle. A 1-race ban should be good for him, as long as it works.
If a weekend on the naughty step doesn't sort Maldonado out, then Williams are going to have to see if his sponsorship deals are really worth all the trouble.
posted on 9/7/12
They should throw the book at the idiot
He's costing people races and costing teams points.
He also has a history for using his car as a weapon
Two race ban should suffice
posted on 9/7/12
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posted on 9/7/12
If this was his first offence Vik, I'd agree with you.
The trouble is that its far from his first offence. So its reached a point where you have to consider whether he is a danger to the safety of the other drivers.
posted on 9/7/12
Yes vik the issue isn't with this incident in particular. It's come after several crashes, including a couple (Spa 2011 and Monaco 2012) that should have carried race bans in themselves.
posted on 9/7/12
If you listened to Maldanado's interview on the BBC, he said the reason his rear went was because he had just pitted and he hadn't warmed up his tyres yet. How many times have we seen drivers passed because their tyres weren't warm enough? Maldanado seems to have this chip on his shoulder where he will do anything to defend his position even if it means ending his own race. It is the mentality of a petulant child who thinks that he is better than everyone else but everyone knows that he is a glorified pay-driver.
posted on 10/7/12
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posted on 13/7/12
"He had one good season in GP2 and got an F1 seat out of it."
I heard/read (forget which) that Venezuelan government/business (forget which) had paid something like £27M for the Maldonardo's place in the Williams team.
"He's outspoken and arrogant - not necessarily bad traits for a professional sportsman,"
Some of the greatest ever didn't need it, Fangio and Clark, I think arrogance has no redeeming feature, it simply represents lack of real confidence.
"So, what action should be taken (if any)?"
The FIA should add 25 seconds to Hamilton's time and give Hamilton a 10 place grid drop for the next race.
That would be perfectly fair.
Perhaps bung a few more points Ferrari's way though, just to make sure.