Pastor Maldonado blames Lewis Hamilton for the collision during Valencia GP – Formula 1 news
Pastor Maldonado believes that Lewis Hamilton is to be blamed for the collision the two drivers got into during the European Grand Prix.
Maldonado drove impressively as he challenged Hamilton in the final stages of the race. Hamilton was placed second and was challenging for the win but his tyre degradation did not allow him to challenge Alonso.
Raikkonen who was behind Hamilton and was not able to get past him earlier found it very easy to tackle the McLaren driver when his tyres started to worn out quickly.
Maldonado attempted to overtake around the outside of the corner but Hamilton did not let up on his position and the Venezuelan ended up colliding into the McLaren car at the apex of turn 13.
Hamilton however was pitched into the barriers and that ended his race, while Maldonado’s front wing came off. The Venezuelan though still managed to finish the race at 10th but after the race the stewards looked into the collision and have given Maldonado
a 20 second penalty for the race. The penalty moves him out of the top ten and thus he lost the only point he scored.
“He tried to put me out of the track and he didn't leave any room for us to do the corner side-by-side,” Maldonado said. “I jumped over the kerb and couldn't avoid the accident. I don't know why he drove like that, he was struggling too much with the tyres,
he was completely lost and at that moment I was gaining at a very good pace.”
“It was disappointing,” he added. “We were so string at the end and at the beginning we were strong but this is racing.”
Maldonado winner of the Spanish GP was gunning for a podium finish at Valencia but lost the opportunity because of a collision. He has had quite a few collisions since his victory and that will be something the team and the Venezuelan will be looking into
for future races.
It will be interesting to see how Maldonado progresses in the season. He has certainly shown signs that he is capable enough to win races but how he handles his wild streak in races will be key to his progress.
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