Pastor Maldonado expresses discontent over blue flag penalties during Abu Dhabi GP – Formula 1 news
Pastor Maldonado says that the penalties he received at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for ignoring the blue flags were unfair.
The Williams’ driver felt that the stewards have been inconsistent when it came to handing out penalties. During the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Maldonado was penalised twice for blocking cars that were looking to lap him. On his first violation, Maldonado was
handed a drive-through penalty and then a stop-go penalty for his second violation.
Maldonado admitted that he had seen the cars coming up behind him, but explained how he took a decision on the basis of the situation he was in. He said that he was fighting it out for a position with Jaime Alguersuari and giving way to the cars that looking
to lap him would have caused to lose out on a few seconds and he was not willing to afford that. Maldonado blocked Mark Webber of Red Bull and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
The sporting regulations states read, “As soon as a car is caught by another car which is about to lap it during the race the driver must allow the faster driver past at the first available opportunity. If the driver who has been caught does not allow the
faster driver past, waved blue flags will be shown to indicate that he must allow the following driver to overtake. Any driver who is deemed to be ignoring the waved blue flags will be reported to the stewards of the meeting.”
Red Bull driver Webber earlier criticised the stewards over the way they handled Lewis Hamilton and Massa’s collision during the Indian GP, and said that the stewards nowadays are trying to develop a “road culture” which is not the way Formula 1 should be
looked at.
Maldonado also expressed his disappointment over the penalties because it is the first incident of a blue flag penalty this season and he has been caught into it which to him is quite unfair.
The fans would also like to see more leniency over these sort of incidents as it makes the game more exciting and unpredictable, but safety also needs to be adhered to which has been given a lot of focus in the sport in recent years.
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