Thoughts on Pastor Maldonado’s collision with Lewis Hamilton
Several days after the excitement of the Belgian Grand Prix there has been a chance to reflect on the qualifying incident between Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado. There was a lot of media and fan reaction to their collision at the end of Q2, and whilst some of that was unfortunately over the top, it’s still worth considering what happened and how the FIA reacted. I personally believe that Pastor Maldonado was very lucky not to receive a harsher punishment, especially when his penalty is compared to others in the recent past.
The incident
After a relatively minor skirmish at the end of their flying laps in Q2, Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado came upon each other at the La Source hairpin on their way back to the pits.
As Maldonado began passing Hamilton, Lewis jinked right and forced the Williams to take avoiding action. Realising this was the case, Lewis immediately moved back to the left and maintained his line on the run down to Eau Rouge. Maldonado pulled alongside and as the road gently curved left, the Williams went straight on and into the side of Hamilton’s McLaren. After making contact, Maldonado’s car slid further left onto the grass.
The Venezuelan was deemed most responsible for the accident by the race stewards with the strongest evidence coming from Lewis Hamilton’s onboard camera. Maldonado was given a five place grid drop for his troubles.
The stewards said that Hamilton also contributed to the collision, and whilst he might have been able to do more to avoid an accident whilst shaking his fist at the Williams (and might have antagonised Pastor by jinking right immediately out of La Source) there is little doubt that Maldonado is to blame for the contact itself.
Maldonado’s crime
The Williams driver was charged with “causing an avoidable collision” and was given a five grid place penalty. He was probably very lucky not to receive something more severe because there is a big difference between an avoidable collision and a deliberate collision.
Although it has been suggested otherwise, it is unlikely that Maldonado actually wanted to make contact with Hamilton. He probably just wanted to swerve in front of the McLaren to assert himself and make a point, but with an unsporting and angry mindset at the time, he deliberately put his car into a position where a collision turned out to be inevitable.
Drivers bump into each other all the time. It’s a fact of racing and mistakes are common in any sport where decisions have to be made with split second timing. However, very few accidents are the result of a deliberate plan. Some of them are careless, or are the result of poor judgement, or occur due to blatant mistakes, but very few are intentional and that is a key point.
Maldonado’s crime did not occur in the heat of the moment and it did not occur in a racing situation. The flag had fallen and both cars were calmly making their way back to the pits. Maldonado wasn’t faced with an urgent situation that required him to make a snap decision, but had plenty of time to consider his actions.
It would have been hard for the stewards to prove that Maldonado had intentionally made contact with Lewis, and that may be reflected in the penalty he received. However, Pastor’s own comments suggest that he wasn’t just trying to drive past Hamilton. On Sunday after the race he looked back at the incident and said “For sure I think we should have slowed down after turn one, but in the end I think we lost our concentration you know and we were fighting.”
The admission that he was “fighting” with Hamilton at the time surely suggests the collision was not just a case of accidentally clipping Lewis on the way through. He shouldn’t have been “fighting” at all in that situation, and the fact that he caused a collision whilst doing so is a more serious offence than simply contacting another driver by mistake.
Maldonado’s penalty
Pastor Maldonado was given a five place grid drop, the same penalty given to drivers who accidentally hold up another during qualifying.
I personally believe the stewards award too many penalties in Formula One. It seems that whenever contact is made between two drivers, one of them has to be held responsible and penalised. I don’t agree with that philosophy and am only totally comfortable with penalties when the misdemeanour is especially blatant. I would much prefer to see reprimands instead of penalties, especially when they are the result of a simple mistake and not reckless behaviour.
With that in mind, I think Maldonado deserved a much harsher punishment.
It might be worth comparing Maldonado’s incident and the penalty he received to others in the sport’s recent history.
Fernando Alonso – 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix
During the first practice session of the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso was held up by the Red Bull of Robert Doornbos. Alonso reacted by waving his fist, swerving at the Dutchman, and then deliberately blocking him coming out of the next corner. Fernando was given a two second penalty in qualifying for his actions.
You could suggest that it was a fairly similar incident to the one involving Maldonado and Hamilton. Alonso lost his cool behind the wheel and drove inappropriately outside of racing conditions. However, he didn’t make contact with Doornbos, and that’s why I feel Maldonado committed a worse crime because he seemingly took it a step further.
Even though Alonso was given a comparable qualifying penalty to Maldonado’s, there was plenty of suggestion at the time that it should have been much stronger.
Shortly after the incident Max Mosley said that he would have given Alonso a race ban had he been a steward. The then FIA President noted “I wouldn’t have given Alonso a two second penalty for the brake-testing episode in Hungary. I would have sent him home. Brake testing is using a car as a weapon to menace another driver, (it’s) dangerous and a license loser if you do it on the road.”
Maldonado is surely thankful that FIA stewards don’t always share Max Mosley’s point of view.
Michael Schumacher – 1997 European Grand Prix
After being found guilty of causing a “deliberate but not premeditated” collision with Jacques Villeneuve at Jerez, Michael Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 World Championship standings.
Schumacher’s actions in the season finale were despicable, but depending on your point of view you could suggest that his fateful move wasn’t as bad as what Maldonado did on Saturday. Michael purposely made contact with Villeneuve, but did so after making a snap decision in the heat of the moment during a high pressure race. Maldonado’s deliberate collision occurred after the flag had fallen, and he had more than a tenth of a second to think about what he was doing.
Even though Schumacher’s championship disqualification was largely symbolic given that he was allowed to keep his points and wins, it was still a more significant penalty than a simple five place grid drop.
Jarno Trulli – 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix
Jarno Trulli was given a ostensibly unreasonable $10,000 fine and FIA reprimand for confronting Adrian Sutil after they crashed in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Trulli’s only obvious crime was some amusing overacting, and it doesn’t seem right that he should get such a strong fine (and official reprimand) for simply waving his arms about. This is especially true when you consider that it was Sutil who ended up grabbing onto Jarno! Lucky this didn’t take place in a Chinese nightclub.
The FIA gave a penalty to a driver who verbally confronted another on the sideline two years ago, but arguably didn’t provide a proportionate penalty when another driver confronted another with his car on the track five days ago.
Yuji Ide – 2006 San Marino Grand Prix
Four races into the 2006 Grand Prix season Yuji Ide had his F1 superlicence revoked by the FIA’s Permit Office, effectively a giving him permanent race ban. There is no meaningful comparison between Ide and Maldonado, except to note how the FIA reacted very strongly in 2006 against what they deemed to be dangerous driving. If Maldonado’s actions were deliberate, there is every reason to suggest they were equally dangerous.
Michael Schumacher – 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix
Last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix provided the most recent example of the FIA stewards punishing unacceptable driving. Michael Schumacher was given a ten place grid penalty for his infamous chop on Rubens Barrichello – twice the penalty given to Maldonado – and you could even create an argument that suggests Schumacher did nothing wrong. His move was certainly very aggressive (and probably worthy of discipline) but he didn’t make contact with Barrichello and gave him just enough room to get past. I would suggest Maldonado’s actions were more nefarious despite receiving just half the penalty.
Pastor Maldonado – 2005 World Series by Renault
Maldonado himself has been penalised for “dangerous driving” in the past. He was given a four race ban during the 2005 World Series by Renault Championship for ignoring yellow flags and hitting a marshal at Monaco. Most current F1 drivers have probably ignored yellow flags at some point in their lengthy careers, but that doesn’t mean there is any excuse for it.
Thoughts on Pastor Maldonado
Given the penalties that other drivers have received for their misdemeanours in the past, I believe Maldonado was very lucky to receive only a five place grid drop at the Belgian Grand Prix. His actions were not motivated by the sporting desire to race for position, nor was he put under pressure to react in a split second, he just lost his cool and pointlessly drove his car into another. It was the Formula One equivalent of a professional foul.
We all do things we regret and it isn’t fair to victimise someone for the flaws that exist in all of us. However, I personally feel that Maldonado wasn’t given the right level of retribution to address his actions. At best he was pointlessly aggressive, but he showed glimpses of unsporting, malevolent, and potentially dangerous behaviour. It reflects very poorly on his maturity and professionalism.
My own thinking is that a race ban – preventing Maldonado from starting the Belgian Grand Prix – would have been more appropriate.
What do you think? As always, please feel free to leave your comments below!