Penalty for Maldonado, Hamilton gets reprimand

2011 Belgian Grand Prix

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Pastor Maldonado, Williams, Spa-Francorchamps, 2011

Pastor Maldonado has been given a five-place grid penalty for hitting Lewis Hamilton’s car during qualifying.

The stewards handed Hamilton a reprimand for his involvement in the incident.

Both drivers were found responsible for ‘causing a collision’ with the other driver and were penalised under article 16.1 of the sporting regulations.

2011 Belgian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    409 comments on “Penalty for Maldonado, Hamilton gets reprimand”

    1. Too lenient.

      1. Boooo! Hamilton needs a grid drop to!

        1. For doing what?

          1. not been following?

            1. I’m shocked that Maldonado hasn’t been disqualified. As usual it looks like the FIA are scared of making a big decision, and just want to sweep this under the carpet.

              From TV pictures it is clear that Maldonado swiped Hamilton. Something I’ve never seen before in F1.

              And also, what is Hamilton being reprimanded for?? Is it too much to ask for the FIA to give us some explanation of their decisions? I can’t believe they simply announce the penalty and don’t release any other information.

            2. Clear? Maldonado just kept to the racing line. Hamilton was the one who was twitching across the track. He was in front of Hamilton, and going a lot faster.

            3. And moved across….

              I am fine with the decision that they were both responsible. But to hand out such weak penalties for causing a collision on purpose, not only that but on a slow down lap because they are too hot headed to know better… Yeah, way too lenient.

          2. For having Nigel Mansell as the steward

          3. good thats what i was hoping for. but hamilton is unlucky to be reprimanded.

            1. I think it’s fair! It looks like that both are spending too much time playing codemasters f1 2010….. generally it’s like “Fight fire with fire”… finally Hamilton got opponent as crazy as he is!

          4. Well what’s a reprimand? A warning to improve your conduct in future?

            Hamilton’s had that many reprimands before, what’s the point in giving him another warning?

            I agree Pastor had more of the blame, but Hamilton hasn’t learnt yet.

            1. Reprimands used to mean nothing, but right now 3 reprimands mean a grid penalty. I think that’s Hamilton’s 2nd.

            2. Its only Hamiltons first since they put in the new rule about 3 reprimands = grid penalty

            3. Ah, right. My mistake.

        2. no hamilton should get the reprimand coz he did turn to swerve in front of maldonado but maldonado should be disquilified and banned for two races his was stupid and recklessi would refuse to let him race

          1. as you can see Hamilton was very aware of maldonados position if not he would have made those gestures, why does he has to ruin both the start of maldonados lap but the rest of it dont know yet why hamilton swerve into maldonado

            1. the session was over then if u actually were watching it properly. Maldanado was a disgrace and deserved to be banned from the race. Hamilton did not swerve over on Maldanado

            2. The session was….OVER!!!

            3. Well, Hamilton did swerve…. I guess Lewis didn’t expect another driver to be as hot headed as he was/is.

          2. Geez that’s just about the clearest footage showing that Maldonado is an insane idiot. He just slams from right to left for no good reason.

            What an utter disgrace that this nut is allowed to race.

          3. It’s rather a racing incident, the flag light shows blue to give way to be overtaken.

            But Maldonado misjudge the pass, as Hamilton is simply driving normally.

        3. Agreed. I would like to see the telemetary on this and make a call about how many weaves were done by who.

          Starting to just read the articles and not the comments, you guys would stand up for Hamilton if he’s swiped your mum and then rear-ended your dad in a carpark.

      2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uC8SOVCfuyw

        Start from 0.30. At 0.33 Maldonado is far to the right of Lewis. Then he turns left for the crash at 0.34. If a certain steward wasnt on the panel today, Pastor would be looking at some very harsh penalty

        1. look ealier in the video, hamilton slows – maldonado avoids, hamilton jinks – hamiltons stays nice and close up to .33 and possibly jinks again (at about .43) also at the start of the video you see how hamilton overtaking maldonado actually impedes maldonados lap time (that might seem like a haters viewpoint, but technically he did impede him, he couldnt take the final turn how he usually would and lost time on what could have been his best timed effort)

          1. In qualifying drivers are allowed to overtake each other. Maldo ran very wide on the final chicane to allow Hamilton up the inside. The slight contact there was Maldo’s fault because Hamilton had the racing line and was ahead.

            By your logic every car should go out one by one because if they are near each other they impeding each other.

          2. I think the problem will be less with the stewards than Sir William. He is likely not to have liked that loss of control from Maldonado – it could have cost him a few tens of thousands of pounds in repair costs.

          3. Well pastor with out doubt was holding up lewis in the last corner, so lewis took the advantage, fair play even coulthard and brundel thought so on bbc commentary. Further more that move in no way impeeded pastor but the 4 ish seconds he would have needed to progrees to the next session, i dont know why lewis has had another reprimand, i just cant see it, i think the FIA should explain why, and only a 5 place grid drop, i would have disqualified him from the race as a minimum as it was just dangerous out down right unsporting!!!!!!!!! #

            1. i dont know if you can trust the judgement of two british comentators. :P however, as much as i dont like hamilton, i reckon maldonado was the antagonist. Lewis’ first move in the final turn was sneaky, but well within the rules. Maldonado took a bit of a cheap shot

        2. If you look hamilton is actually moving left when maldonado is moving left on him because lewis gets closer to the white line

          I admit lewis might have turned right slightly at the start but when maldonado moves towards him lewis is trying to move away from him

          Its clearly maldonado’s fault

          1. maestrointhesky
            27th August 2011, 23:35

            Mad-donado actually ends up on the grass after the move. That’s how far left HE was moving. Soft judgement in my opinion. He should have had a ban! I’m not sure what you can get banned for if this doesn’t fit the bill. Premeditated and vengeful. I guess the reprimand for Lewis was for the previous contact but I can’t say I agree with it! Nice to see Hamilton was calm and controlled directly after the event on the radio.

          2. The track is not straight. He could be going straight or even slightly right and still be getting close to the white line as the tracking was moving right (towards Hamilton). In fact, at the point of contact he was not over to the edge. So, there is no logic in your argument.

        3. I think silly driving by both drivers. Hamilton swerved as well, contemporarily to Maldonado, although the latter is more to blame.

          1. Didn’t he just turn right to get to the standing water? He then stopped when he realised there was a car alongside him. Most people seem to be forgetting that this was AFTER Q2 ended and he was just cruising back!

            Seriously, I’m a williams fan and have been generally impressed by Maldonado this season. Can’t say his actions today have kept up with that.

            1. Obviously not. Lewis jinked to scare Pastor.

      3. How many times will lewis receive reprimands before they penalise him?

        1. According to the rules, three now (since Silverstone, wasn’t it?). Doesn’t say anything about what they hand out reprimands for.

        2. Lewis has been penalized before – both fairly and unfairly. But this one was on Maldonado. Look at the onboard from Lewis’ car. Maldonado ends up on the grass to the left he came over so far.

      4. Agree re Maldonado.

          1. ouch! looked quite dangerous. can brake fingers this way.

          2. I watched it on BBC, and watching this for Hamiltons ‘car-cam’ shows how dangerous and spiteful Maldonado’s actions were. He should have his race and super licence suspended till at least the end of the season. There is no place for petulance like this in F1.

      5. Indeed. Maldanado should be suspended.

    2. Fair enough!

    3. Isn’t that Hamilton’s 3rd this year? Wasn’t that meant to be a penalty of some sort in itself? Or is that only cautions, I forgot the technicalities of it.. :(

      1. Yes, but this one, like the one for the yellow was a bit silly as there wasn’t much he could do, but they felt like making a point, I think.

        I would really like to read the stewards reasoning here, 5 place drop sounds way too lenient, and the reprimand is either silly, or entirely too lenient too, depending on the facts.

      2. Yes.. There should be a rule which imposes a penalty if a driver has a certain no of reprimands the season..say a 5 places grid drop penalty for 3rd reprimand.. Otherwise it doesn’t make any sense.. Any driver can make the same error the next race and get just the same reprimand..

      3. its only hamiltons second reprimand of the season.

    4. Uhm, people have been handed 5-place grid penalties for far less… It wasn’t just a racing incident, was it?.

      1. No, DSQ was a minimum required really.

        If Hamliton had not been able to start Q3 because of it, it would of effectively been like Maldonado giving Hamilton a eight place grid drop.

        1. Agreed, DSQ for what was blatant cheating. Presumably Hamilton’s reprimand was for muscling Maldonado out of the way at the last corner – which seems pretty harsh, but perhaps it was diplomatic to share the blame somewhat.

      2. DSQ might’ve been too much to ask, but surely a 10-place drop wouldn’t have been? It would only have converted to an 8-place drop, while sending out a very clear message.

        1. I think a DSQ was perfectly appropriate for it. Come on, the FIA is banning DRS for it being dangerous through Eau Rouge and then silently watches this happen?

          So much for the “making roads safer” campaing then. I think Hamilton getting a reprimand is OK, if only for waving his hand at Maldonado.

          1. Schumacher got DQ from the session in 97 for hitting someone on purpose. And give Schumacher credit, he had a lot more at stake than ego.

            Pastor… Should not be racing tomorrow, at the very least.

            1. Schumacher got DQ from the session in 97 for hitting someone on purpose.

              But there’s a difference between that case and this one.

              A lot of people believe Schumacher deliberately collided with Damon Hill at Adelaide in 1994 to win the World Championship, though it was never proven. When he did it in 1997, he hit Villeneuve to try and take him out of the race and win the championship – which would make it a cold, calculated, and above all else, premeditated decision.

              Maladjusto, on the other hand, did his in the spur of the moment. He obviously felt Hamilton’s move at the chicane had robbed him of a good lap time or a shot at another lap, and in the heat of the moment, he launched an attack on Hamilton some two hundred metres down the road. The difference between Maldonado and Schumacher is that Maldonado’s move was not premeditated. He did something stupid in anger. His penalty would have been much greater if Lewis Hamilton was unable to take part in Q3, but the damage barely affected him (Vettel’s lap time was down to the improving track conditions).

            2. For someone who rides so pedantically on the don’t make assumptions train, you sure do make some big assumptions.

    5. Vinicius Matheus
      27th August 2011, 17:00

      I think both should have got 5-place grid penalties.

      1. seconded, Why?

        1. watch the replays and you will see why

          1. dfektor stop trolling. You obviously have a problem with Hamilton. It is quite clear that after Lewis finished he wouldn’t try to hit Maldonado… He heard on the radio that he had a good time + he wouldn’t risk destroying his car for no reason.

          2. I’ve seen the replays and Maldonado clearly drives up behind Hamilton ‘for no reason’ then swerves around him and swipes into him as he passes. If that was on a normal road, you’d have no doubt Maldonado was trying to ‘give a lesson’ to Hamilton by cutting him up. And we know why Maldonado would do that: aggrieved that Hamilton got past him at the bus stop chicane.

            Motive and evidence. Should have been a disqualification.

        2. Probably because Lewis made the first move after La Source

          1. He was about to follow the racing line and then noticed Maldonado approaching at speed in his mirrors. Hence the awkward movement from Hamilton.

            1. That’s how I interpreted it also.

            2. i thought HAM was trying to scare MAL by dogding right quickly…

      2. Vinicius Matheus
        27th August 2011, 17:19

        Both Ham and Mal were into red-mist mode, Hamilton swerved twice before being hit by Mal on the straight, thats dangerous driving by Ham too. Also he bashed Mal wide on the the last chicane.

        1. Dude, I’m sorry for going into “red-mist” mode, but just what the hell are you on about huh?? Hamilton swerve bla bla yap yap who gives a damn??? SESSION WAS OVER. What was Maldonado thinking trying to pull off a close overtake??
          Bashed Mal wide on last chicane? I call your attention to a word called Racing. Something that takes place in F1. WHILE SESSION IS ON, please note.

          1. Vinicius Matheus
            27th August 2011, 17:30

            While in qualifying you’re not supposed to be racing nobody, see Alonso in that he backed off three times because he got too close to the car in front during his fast laps.

            1. Sorry, but you really couldn’t be more wrong.

              If you are faster than a car in front you are perfectly in the right to overtake them. Alonso backed off to give himself room for a clear lap with no traffic because, shock horror, overtaking people actually takes time and leads to a slightly slower lap (not as slow as staying behind them though).

              Maldonado went wide at the bus stop chicane which allowed Hamilton through. Hamilton was ahead and Maldonado should have a) seen that and b) not try and turn into him (which is why they kissed bumpers).

              Not sure why Hamilton twitched on the run down after la source, but I think he was looking at Maldonado in his mirrors and try to figure out what the hell he was doing – no malice. Maldonado on the other hand appears to have deliberately turned into him.

            2. Please watch the BBC footage of the incident at the Bus Stop:

              >> http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/14694054.stm

              Hamilton was entitled to make the pass, as he was on his flying lap and made a fair move. Maldonado, quite frankly, was asleep.

            3. Phil, it was qualification session not qualification racing. In qualification you try to get, shocking, the best lap time not racing anybody. Everybody is racing against the clock. That why everybody try to have a clean lap. But sometimes you have bad luck and come up to slower cars, which are going as fast as they can. And they are not supposed to jump out when a faster car is approaching. And also, drivers in faster cars must RESPECT the others efforts, which your fellow countryman is missing by far.
              Bottom line: the guilt is divided, and both should received same penalty.

            4. you can race, but no impede another drivers qualifying lap. hamilton is lucky he has a top 2 car on the grid, so caught maldonado fast, but in passing him, he impeded maldonados qualifying lap, maldonado probably lost .5 of a second in the pass.

            5. Maldonado’s lap was already ruined by Barry and the car in front, Hamilton was still on a hot one at that point.

              In any case it’s perfectly fine for a faster driver to overtake during qualifying, but as has been said they dont usually because it wastes time, but with that being the last lap of the session Hamilton had no choice but to go for it, it’s not like he could have backed off and gone again.

      3. Hamilton did nothing wrong. Maldo had the WHOLE right hand side of the track yet squeezed Hamilton to the left AFTER the session had ended!?

        1. Well said, thats what I was thinking. People all saying Lewis twitched, or made a wiggle, whatever, what the hell was Maldonado doing at that speed that close, after the session was finished…???

        2. Not true, he jinked to scare Pastor.

          He isn’t a saint in this.

      4. Thirded, why?

    6. I was expecting something harsher for the stupidity..

    7. If Pastor gets a penalty, then it’s been determined he was most at fault.

      If that’s the case, I feel this completely fails to relay to drivers just how completely unacceptable retaliatory contact is. I strongly believe the punishment does not fit the crime.

      1. Well the stewards haven’t said anything. I presume that they don’t see the incident as retaliation from Maldonado.

        1. Well the stewards haven’t said anything. I presume that they don’t see the incident as retaliation from Maldonado.

          I’m convinced Pastor didn’t intend to hit Hamilton. I think he was understandably (but through no fault of Lewis’, I might add) annoyed and wanted to make a point to Lewis about what he considered to be Lewis disrupting either the end of his lap or the beginning of his new lap. His problem was that he decided to do this by ‘cutting-up’ Lewis on track in an obvious display of aggression but he misjudged things and made contact.

          Now any form of retaliatory aggression on track should be frowned upon but when you actually make contact, intentionally or not, you are putting the other driver, the marshals and even the fans in danger just to make a point. That’s not only unprofessional, it’s completely idiotic and has absolutely no place in professional motorsport let alone motorsport’s supposed pinnacle. That is why I find this penalty to be so incredibly unfitting of the action it’s been applied for.

          1. Agreed 100%.

            This was retaliatory intimidation from Maldonado after Hamilton had pulled a hard but fair pass on him at the last corner.

            When I saw this I honestly thought that Maldonado’s super-licence could be taken off him. I honestly can’t believe he’s only got a five place grid drop!!

            1. I think its about time the stewards looked at Mansells behavior in this incident…Mansell = Fail

          2. Fully agree with that MAG. When drivers complain about dangerous driving, this is exactly that.

            Recently we had a cas of a driver pushing another off the lane on the highway (annoyed at her not letting his big car pass, luckily no one got hurt). First time someone really got punished, the guy got 12 years behind bars in the end.

            Should be a DSQ for Maldonado IMO. Lewis not sure, Reprimand is OK, I guess as he did do that stupid hand signal.

      2. I’m totally with you on that.

      3. Agree totally, weak decision, weakened further by the reprimand for Hamilton. Next they’ll be reprimanding him for turning up at a GP and provoking other drivers by taking to the circuit.

      4. Best to wait for the details (if any are going to be forthcoming) before jumping to conclusions.

        My immediate thought was that Hamilton had swerved into him, but looking at it again it looks likes he twitches before Maldonado even gets alongside. I actually think that Pastor was aiming to get alongside him so that he could have a good shout or show Lewis a particular finger – unfortunately it all went a bit wrong.

        Any bets on Williams using this as an excuse to finally get rid of the abysmal Maldonado, while keep some or all of his sponsorship money? Despite rare flashes of competence, he’s been pretty below par – and that’s being nice. I bet there’s something in his contract about bringing the team into disrepute or something being grounds for dismissal.

        1. Williams will not keep Maldonado’s sponsorship money if they don’t race him. I think Williams are content with Maldonado’s performances this year. He has shown some good signs of pace, and if Hamilton didn’t take him out in Monaco, he would be ahead of Barrichello in the championship standings.

          1. Good Joke.

            1. Maldonado can’t race. He is blind to other drivers and goes backwards in every race. I cringe every time I see someone trying an overtake on him because even if Maldonado does open his eyes and see them he will then block in terrible ways, slamming open doors and such. His defensive driving is abysmal. And now we find he has anger issues too.

        2. When was the last time Williams tested a driver? Do they even have a third driver?

            1. I think Sam Michael told the press they plan to get him the rookie test again this year and expects him to make it to F1 soon.

      5. Couldn’t agree more Mag.

      6. Completely agree.

    8. Venezuelan F1 Fan
      27th August 2011, 17:03

      What?!?! How did Maldonado get a five place grid drop!!! Are the stewards blind??? Pastor did nothing. This is a disgrace.

      1. Blah blah blah, British Bias, blah blah blah ;-)

        For what it’s worth, I suspect Hamilton’s reprimand is for the wheel-bashing at the end of the qualifying lap. I’m not entirely sure that Maldonado can get away with a 5 place grid drop. I mean you get 10 for using an extra engine FFS….

      2. Hello Venezuelan F1 Fan.

        I’d be interested to see why you think Pastor did nothing. Would you please explain why you think this is a disgrace? I’d love to understand why you think this.

        1. I also would like to hear why you think that? It was the most disgraceful thing I’ve seen in F1 over the last 10 years.MAL just can’t do that what ever the reason.

        2. I’m no mindreader, but I think our man here is Sarcasm King. I hope, right?

        3. Venezuelan F1 Fan
          27th August 2011, 17:19

          @ Magnificent Geoffrey and BBT.

          I strongly believe Hamilton’s actions at the Bus Stop chicane and La Source were far more severe than Pastor’s actions. Lewis brake tested Maldonado and on another day, Maldonado’s car may have gone airborne.

          1. Venezuelan F1 Fan:

            I strongly believe Hamilton’s actions at the Bus Stop chicane and La Source were far more severe than Pastor’s actions. Lewis brake tested Maldonado and on another day, Maldonado’s car may have gone airborne.

            Thank you for replying and explaining yourself.

            In response, I’d like to say that I feel Pastor was in an unfortunate position into the Bus Stop. He was clearly looking to make a clean start into a final flying lap. Lewis was finishing his flying lap, came across traffic and knew he couldn’t afford to lose time behind traffic when he probably wouldn’t have time or the clear track to produce another hot lap. So, in this instance, Pastor was a victim of circumstance and it was unfortunate for him.

            However, while he understandably may have been upset with Lewis the fact he has been given a penalty clearly suggests to me that the stewards believe that what he did to Lewis was not only deliberate but deliberately aggressive. I can’t draw any other conclusions from this but to assume Pastor was acting in an aggressive and completely unnecessary manner. If that’s the case, that is completely unacceptable and I believe he should be punished further than a 5 place grid penalty. Any moral highground he had from losing out at the Bus Stop was completely lost by doing what he did on the way down to Eau Rouge. If he was angry at Lewis, he should have waited until they were both back at the paddock and gone up to Lewis and confronted him directly, like a man. If he had done that, I’d have had sympathy and respect for him. However, he didn’t.

            As for Lewis supposedly brake-testing Pastor into La Source, I don’t remember seeing that myself on the replay, so I cannot comment on that myself.

            1. Could be, but just casually, for the history of great aura of respect and correct driving Lewis built around himself, inside and outside the races….. and please do not answer that he is young, coloured, hit anytime by the press etc….

            2. He had no hope of starting another flying lap as the flag was about to start waving 1 second later, so there’s no excuse.

          2. Unfortunately there is nothing in SPA called as Bus Stop Chicane anymore. Like the neutered the Chicane, they should neuter Maldanado for standing up against being bullied by another driver who thinks he is entitled to push around other people at free will coz he is driving in car at sharp end of the grid.

            Maybe Luca Di Mcxx is right, we should get rid of these slow cars and teams, who are unnecessarily trying to get in ways of the McLarens,Red Bulls and the Ferraris.

            And all the lowly drivers simply bend over and baulk their own qualifying laps, their own position fighting dices when they see front running cars in the mirrors, they should simply leave the racing line, get on the marbles and lose their cars in gravel traps and armcos else, face the neutering process during investigation.

            1. I loved your last album.

            2. Actually the real PDiddy is an educated and intelligent man.

          3. Lewis brake tested Maldonado

            Nothing from the footage indicates that happened, the stewards could tell very easily if he did – from the information they get from the teams – and if he had, you can bet they would have come down on him like a ton of bricks.

            So don’t go making up obviously false nonsense just to have a got at someone you don’t like.

            1. Actually I think our Venezuelan friend may have a point. Watch this video at around the 30 second point and you can see Hamilton slows considerably out of La Source. Okay it’s not brake testing but be aware that English may not be a first language…

              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC8SOVCfuyw

            2. yes john t, he slows down because the session is over!

            3. Good point jleigh. You are probably right but I feel the crazy Venezuelan dude may not be as crazy as we thought! Yeah, he seems slightly biased ;) but perhaps Hamilton should’ve got a penalty. I don’t know but the stewards have more footage than us so can make better calls.

            4. John T, a slow getaway out of a corner on a wet track, when already having seen the checkered flag is quite something different from brake testing someone.

            5. Bit OTT Keith. He’s obviously making it up but that’s taking things a bit too far

      3. It was such a clear case of retaliation. You are just blind to your fellow contryman’s stipidity. He should have been disqualified at the least and given a 3 race ban.

        1. As to Lewis in Monaco, Canada, etc…

          1. There were no cases of retaliation in those races.

          2. Hamilton got ample penalties in Monaco. In Canada he took himself out of the race. And those were all part of badly judged overtakes during a race.

            Something completely different from coming back at someone AFTER the session and squeezing them like Maldonado did.

        2. Here
          Here

        3. You forgot to mention he should have his balls cut off….

      4. I seriously belive you’re one of the usual F1Fanatic readers playing a joke on all of us :P.

      5. I’m sorry man, but Lewis didn’t do anything there, he was racing Pastor at the final chicane and Pastor let him pass… It was totally Pastors fault.
        And I’m Venezuelan by the way, but this is clearer than water.
        So… Fair punish for Maldonado, don’t understand the reprimand though

      6. You’re quite right, it is a disgrace. A disgrace that petulant actions such as Maldonados can escape with such a lenient penalty.

    9. if it was maldonado’s fault, why has Hamilton got a reprimand?

      1. Every time Hamilton goes to see the stewards he gets a reprimand. It’s written in the sporting code. I thought everyone knew that?!!

        1. Hardly. This is the driver who has more penalties this year than anyone else:

          https://www.racefans.net/2011/08/16/hamilton-penalties-2011/

          1. Sure but possibly because Lewis gets to see the race stewards so often (and with reason) they don’t want to appear to give him too many penalties and upset the Lewis fans. Other than Ant the other BBC commentators and most of the British Press could only see the faults of Pastor. This then becomes, for most people, the de-facto judgement. From the videos I think both drivers were to blame and I think both drivers should have got a penalty – possibly Pastor more so.

      2. FIA doesn’t like him

        1. ah, fair enough!

      3. Probably for the ‘hot’ lap incident and not the crazy contact MAL caused.

        1. That might be an explanation, but I can’t really see that being any blameable incident at all.

          1. It could be seen as blocking Maldonados quick lap.

            1. which was already ruined by Barrichello going off at Blanchimont?

            2. Maldonado was caught in traffic and then went wide. He made a mistake and lewis justifiably took the overtake (which is only just an overtake, it’s just taking the normal racing line).

            3. MAL was slowing down to get space from BAR and start a new lap.

            4. @Sato, they were never going to be able to start another lap, the flag dropped before Lewis got to it.

          2. From that inboard Hamilton video, you can see he made a hand signal at Maldonado (not the thing to calm down in a situation like that), I guess that might have been the reason for finding Hamilton was not completely without blame for this escalating.

      4. koby'sleftfoot
        27th August 2011, 17:15

        I’d guess that although Maldonado lunged at Hami and clearly deserves a penalty, Hami also flicked his car towards Mal (Hami seems to move off the racing line), not expecting Mal to be lunging at him and contact was made, hence he deserves a reprimand.

        It looked to me like Hami’s move was just a gesture like Petrov Vs Alonso on the in lap post Abu-Dhabi GP 2010, which would been nothing if Mal hadn’t been throwing his car at Hami like a nut.

        1. Hamilton turned towards the racing line and then twitched away from Maldonado.

          What we really need is an explanation from the stewards.

          1. Yes, Hamilton was minding his own business until Maldonado came charging from behind.

            1. bullcrap, watch the replays, hamilton was slowing, maybe brake testing, then jinking towards maldonado, then possibly jinking again to cause contact (maldonado was maybe jinking back at the same time). hamilton is far from clean in this incident. many are saying the jinking action was to get on the driving line, but watch the replay and watch the cars infront he is already following the driving line, it was a deliberate jink toward maldonado (why would he jink to get on to driving line and he would know maldonado is their if he is using his mirrors – he even admits in post rast interview he says he saw maldonado coming, and then lied then he didnt move). im sure the stewards watched the replays and understood that too.

            2. @ dfektor

              Presuming you are actually capable of rational thought and are not just trolling, why would Maldonado drive right behind Hamilton after Q2 had finished? He had a lot of track and no reason to race. I suspect you know full well he was ‘hassling’ Hamilton, annoyed because he’d overtaken him (because he was so slow – as Hamilton was entitled to do). It’s just blatantly obvious. Anything Hamilton does in response has to be mitigated by that fact, and from Hamilton’s onboard he really doesn’t seem to move anywhere except following the ‘race line,’ just about the only track left to him.

        2. What nobody else seems to mention or question, is why the hell Maldonado was that close or ‘overtaking’ that fast when the session had finished anyway???

    10. Giving him a 5 grid penalty when hes effectivly at the back anyway is the worst thing the stewards could have done, this wasnt a racing incodent, the session was over, it was just pure malicious, Maldonado needed to learn a lession, now, he know he can get away with disgraceful behaviour.

    11. wow i cant believe pastor maldonado still going to race tomorrow, he should be banned for at least 1 race.

      1. absolutely agree. Thats a very lenient punishment given what happened earlier in the year to Mucke

    12. Lewis might of done nothing with the contact, the reprimand could of been for the contact/him barging past at the bus stop chicane.

      Why are people presuming the ins and outs of the penalties before the press statmenet is released?

      1. Agree with your assessment.

    13. The facts are…
      Both were given a telling off by the stewards.
      Pastor received a harsher penalty, and rightly so because of the more dangerous swerve.
      Hamilton did swerve at Pastor twice, so im glad he has also been reprimanded (again!).

      1. No he never swerved twice, there was a small twitch, after that, the circuit bends right, Hamilton was just following the line, watch from the rear shot on the BBC site. Pastor squeezed him.

      2. For starters Hamilton didn’t swerve, he simply turned to the right which is acceptable because the “straight” bends to the right.

        He had a classic twitch moment – something we’ve all done when we suddenly notice something and in Hamilton’s case that was Maldonado – then gets out the way and just follows the track round.

        For once I think Hamilton is an innocent party.

        1. This is exactly how I see it as well. I’m not a Hamilton fan but I was a Maldonado fan until this incident. Ham was following the dry line on the circuit and Mal hit him. We have the video, it’s clear cut.

          1. I’m glad I am not the only one who saw it that way.Maldonado supporters must be watching very selective footage to be so vehement in defence of the indefensible.

        2. We need onbaordshots to see who turned first.
          Then we can probably see both were to blame

    14. I have to say i, like coulthart, was expecting Maldonardo to be Disqualified.

      1. I think most were having that way of thinking for something so blatently and outright dangerous.
        For me the sad thing about this besides the incident itself, is yet again the sport is in disrepute. And the continuing inconsistancy of the FIA/Stewards penalties.

    15. I’m struggling to understand what Hamilton got a reprimand for. Maldonado went wide at the chicane and left a car width and a half for Hamilton to drive through but then attempted to close the door when Hamilton was alongside. From the pictures I’ve seen after the finish line Hamilton was driving in a straight line and Maldonado cut across him. I think the Maldonado penalty is far too lenient as it was after the qualifying was over.

      1. Hamilton receives a reprimand for swerving at Pastor twice, that’s what i think!

      2. completely agree, maybe the FIA just needs a bit more cash and sees hamilton as a good target?

        1. Of course, he wants to stay on the dry line and he is also just following the racing line there, you’ve clearly never driven Spa.

          1. exactly. because he wants to do another flying lap.

            1. Of course, Hamitlon wanted to do another flying lap!

              ..that’s why he slowed to let Maldonado past..

              Maybe your theory would have a shred of credence if the qualifying session hadn’t just have finished.

          2. Dry line for what? They were given the checker flag already…
            It is both fail. Both should get a penalty not just Maldonado. Hamilton had no need to look for the dry/racing line and he saw Pastor in his mirrors exactly the same way Button saw Hamilton in Canada…
            Both immature drivers

            1. The dry line is better also on an outlap, more over, it is the normal racing line, so not much of a stretch to think anyone would want to be on it. Why Maldonado felt the need to close up on Hamilton? We can only guess.

        2. to follow the racing line yes, Maldonado is turning left in a right hander!

        3. Please look again.
          The angle is misleading and it’s a shame it seems to be the only footage being shown.
          Watch them both in relation to the white line & grid slots; Hamilton is turning right because wow, it’s a right hand turn.
          http://i.imgur.com/ovgBb.jpg

        4. So you are saying that after the session is over he should have been paying more attention to his rear view mirror before following the racing line?

      3. For blocking Maldonados quick lap, likely. Doesn’t matter how many championships or green sectors you have, if you’re on a hot lap and catch a slower car also on a hot lap, tough.

        1. The session was over, no?

          Besides he was hardly in the way.

          1. I was refering to the previous incident at the Bus stop, unless I’m mistaken I think they were both on hot laps.

            Just to clarify, I’m not saying Hamilton had no right to overtake Maldonado, but at the apex he blocked the Williams’ exit from the corner, which usually gets some sort of penalty.

            1. It impossible to overtake a car and not hinder its speed or line through a corner. Therefore by your logic overtaking in qualifying is not allowed.

            2. Maldonado’s lap was already ruined by Barrichello and if Hamilton gets reprimanded for then so should Barrichello.

              There’s also an argument that Maldonado, having already had his lap ruined by traffic, should of moved over to let Hamilton past so I don’t believe that was the case.

            3. I’m not agreeing with the penalty, just trying to come up with some justification for it.

              If I do think about it logically;

              I agree, it’s not possible to overtake a car without blocking his natural line through a corner.

              Blocking a drivers natural line through a corner during qualification is grounds for penalty.

              Ergo, overtaking should not be allowed during qualifying.

              I don’t agree with any of that, but it makes sense. Also didn’t see the Barrichello incident, so I’ll have to profess ignorance on that one.

            4. Daffron

              It impossible to overtake a car and not hinder its speed or line through a corner. Therefore by your logic overtaking in qualifying is not allowed.

              by your logic there’s no such thing as overtaking on a straight

        2. No, if you’re on a hot lap and you catch a slower car, which then goes totally wide at a corner, allowing you through on THE NORMAL RACING LINE that’s not tought, it’s a justifiable overtake. They only kissed because Maldonado tried to turn in when Hamilton was already ahead of him, totally his fault.

          1. Maldonado wasn’t ‘totally wide’, he was going for a late apex, which involves taking a wide entry. He would have comfortably done so if Lewis hadn’t jumped underneath him.

            There is no normal racing line through there, there’s at least 2.

            1. Then surely Maldonado needs to take into account the fact there is someone just behind him on a hot lap, as he decides to go for a late apex?

              You can’t take the apex differently (and much much slower) and say the other guy, who’s taking the racing line for a hot lap, impedes you.

            2. Being on a hot lap himself, Maldonado needs take nothing but what is in front of him into account, hence why he didn’t defend the corner, as he likely expected Lewis to do what I imagine most drivers (including Jenson as we saw earlier in the session) would have done; slow right up and get a good exit himself.

              It’s known as ‘slow-in, fast-out’ and is basic racing, which allows a better exit and higher speed down the next straight. The stewards likely concluded that Hamilton should have recognised this and held back, though in Lewis’ defence it’s likely he thought Maldonado was yielding the apex completely, as he’s probably used to Williams’ doing that.

            3. But he still had no chance of starting another hot lap as the flag was about to come out.

            4. @MuzzleFlash – your argument makes no sense to me and seems to contradict itself. If Maldonado was taking the slow in, fast out approach to the corner, then he was clearly not on a hot lap at that point. He had backed out and was preparing for another attempt.

              Hamilton was on a hot lap and had not backed off, so if anything your logic dictates that Maldonado impeded a driver behind him who was on a hot lap.

              For what it’s worth, I don’t think either driver impeded the other. It was a racing (or should that be qualifying) incident.

            5. Simon,

              I’m not arguing, I’m raising any point from either side of the discussion which I feel may be pertinent. I’m not a fan of either driver or team and as such don’t feel the need to impress any angle.

              I imagine I’m with the majority here who feel Hamilton should not have been reprimanded and Maldonado should have been given a 1 race ban or forced to start from the pitlane, and just trying to make haphazard guesses at the stewards logic in the absence of any explanation from them.

      4. Because the FIA guys are cowards.

        No reprimand towards Hamilton would’ve effectively mean the penalty given to Maldonado was just not enough, as he’d be entirely to blame.

        Giving a reprimand to Lewis makes it all look like “too close to call, but Maldonado’s just a bit more responsable for what happened”.

        1. I think you’re spot-on with this. Typical bad stewarding from literally a bunch of amateurs (plus one driver)

    16. The 3 reprimand rule was only inforced at the british GP, the document also said that they would start counting the reprimands toward the grid pen from the british GP onwards ,so hamilton only has 1 out of 3

    17. It’s thirty years I watch Gps. I never saw before a driver waiting for another one, let him pass and then drive into him, on the straight (I’d say 140 kph…).
      To me Maldonado should have been disqualified for a couple of races.
      Hamilton did nothing. Just passed a driver that was much slower than him.

      1. Hamilton swerved at Pastor twice, after going through La Source…
        How on earth can you miss this, are you completely blind?

        1. Blind to your imagination I presume…

          1. Watch the video’s… it’s clear cut!
            Why do you think Hamilton got the reprimand, if he was supposedly innocent in all this?

            1. Yes it is clear cut, i.e 100% Paster, watch it from behind, Paster gets along side and drives toward the barrier, in fact when the cushion of Hamilton’s car is not there he actually drives onto the grass and nearly hits the barrier because of the direction he is taking.

              Hamilton is just taking the correct line (moving away from the barrier, if he doesn’t he will hit it), its Pasters line toward the barrier that makes in look a bit like Hamilton moves towards Paster from the front angle, but you can’t see the impending barrier from that angle.

              There is a bit of fish tail out of the corner on Hamilton’s car, as you would expect in the conditions but its nothing to do with the accident.

              Suggest you watch it again. :-)

            2. There is no fish tail… Hamilton made the first swerving manouevre, that’s clearly evident in the video for me and quite clear to the stewards as well.

            3. Well the don’t agree with you.

            4. Who’s the?
              I presume you mean ‘they’?
              In fact, they do agree with me, hence why Hamilton was reprimanded!

            5. Probably for bumping wheels at the Bus Stop

        2. I saw it again and I was wrong. Anyway it’s Pastor driving on Lewis on purpose. Lewis didn’t appear to be willing to cause any incident, in my point of view.

        3. Ever been on the motorway only to see the car in front decide to change lanes only to notice at the last minute there’s already someone there and twitch back into their lane?

          That’s what Hamilton did. He turned towards Maldonado, spotted him, and twitched away. As for the second “swerve” one has to turn right when the track curves to the right and Hamilton could hardly of been expecting Maldonado to squeeze him.

    18. harsh on lewis and lenient on maldonardo – he should have been banned from the race. its a question of safety and sporting conduct. this was not a racing incident so the normal penalties are by definition too lenient. lewis legitimately took the inside of the corner in the session and after la source moved well over once he realised maldonardo was coming past.

    19. Hamilton should have received a grid penalty as well. This does not look like a fair punishment. He swerved to his right twice.

      1. Maldonado, got along side slowed to keep the same speed and then drove into Hamilton.

        Hamilton did not swerve twice at all, that is just wishful thinking on your behalf, he move away from the barrier that moves out from the left there yes but that is it.

        Maldonado should of been banned for a race. With a further suspended ban for the rest of the season.

      2. Exactly like that, if not for this, for being ANY time a protagonist in racing (and not) accidents…

    20. Schumacher got a 10 place penalty for almost causing a collision last year. At least Pastor should have been thrown to the back of the grid (24th).

      1. My thoughts exactly. And to think Schumi’s swerve didn’t end up in a collision, either.

      2. Indeed. I can only assume that the stewards were convinced by Maldonado’s explanation of why he didn’t intend this, so it was just an avoidable accident he caused, not a wilful drive-in.

      3. Agree. It makes absolutely no sense.

    21. I think they should both have been sent to the back of the grid.

    22. Seems lenient when you look at the punishments for other things.

      Retaliation and deliberately causing an collision after a session has ended is not as bad as replacing a faulty gearbox according to the rule makers!

      1. I do have the feeling that if someone else than Lewis would have been hit, Pastor would have been penalised harsher, and the reprimand would have been left away, there is an aspect of subjectivity here also in the stewards (Mansell).

        But I also mean, since Hamilton has had his share of accidents, maybe they tend to have a dimmer view of him being involved in something, even if he can’t really be blamed for it, which is fair enough. Was there really not more he could have done to avoid it? Hitting the breaks was an option. Then again, they didn’t hold that against Maldonado in Monaco, even if they could have.

        1. this. I posted a few weeks ago saying that even if Hamilton isn’t to blame in an incident, when he is involved, other drivers appear to get off very lightly. This is again a clear example of that.

    23. I watched it again and it’s not Maldonado waiting for Hamilton…
      Bit it’s him overtaking and the driving into him. I stay on my point. Two gp’s penalty for naughty Pastor.

      1. So in which case, you’re saying…
        Hamilton waited for Pastor after going round La Source, before swerving at him once, followed by Pastor and Hamilton swerving at each other at the same time, causing the collision.
        In effect, Hamilton initiated the incident, by waiting for Pastor, followed by taking the first swipe at him.

        1. “Hamilton waited for Pastor after going round La Source”

          Wrong again, the session was over, both drivers where on in-laps, drivers always slow down on their in-laps, Maldonado didnt need to be anywhere near Lewis’ car, he had most of the track available to his right.

          Again, try as you might, blaming Hamilton for the collision is abismal.

          1. Yes the session was over and both were on in laps… but what has that got to do with Hamilton slowing down to meet with Pastor on the same piece of tarmac, after la source? Again, that is clearly evident in the video feed.

            Yes your right, Pastor didnt need to be anywhere near Hamilton’s car.

            1. or…hamilton slowed normally, Maldonado sped up to meet Hamilton? impossible to tell

    24. The analysis was likely: both were at fault but Maldonado started it.

      Nonetheless, Hamilton dodged a bullet here. Maldonado had no business trying to buzz Hamilton on the cool down lap. But Hamilton should have just let him go instead of answering him with a swerve. I know the video and Keith’s take was that Maldonado cut him off but Hamilton could easily see what was on when Maldonado came up behind and he should know that was not going to end well if he did anything but just give way. As for the actual qualifying lap, I don’t think Maldonado has a legitimate beef. He was baulked by Barrichelo, but Hamilton passed him fair and square. They touched wheels but they gave each other as room as you can in that corner.

      1. No, Hamilton started it when he swerved, then Maldonado swerved.

        1. Paster gets along side and drives toward the barrier, in fact when the cushion of Hamilton’s car is not there he actually drives onto the grass and nearly hits the barrier because of the direction he is taking.
          Hamilton is just taking the correct line (moving away from the barrier, if he doesn’t he will hit it), its Pasters line toward the barrier that makes in look a bit like Hamilton moves towards Paster from the front angle, but you can’t see the impending barrier from that angle.
          There is a bit of fish tail out of the corner on Hamilton’s car, as you would expect in the conditions but its nothing to do with the accident.

        2. Finally, someone on here that talks sense!

      2. I think Maldonado will probably believe that Hamilton has lots of space, and it apparently wasn’t enough, so he barged him out of the way. Maldonado’s quali would have already been compromised by traffic anyway, so he may as well have let Hamilton through in my mind.

        1. Maldonado finished 5s outside of Q3, so if Hamilton’s reprimand was for the Bus Stop antics then that’ll be another load of tosh from the stewards.

    25. Can anyone explain me what are reprimands for if you don’t get any kind of sanction?
      I am not saying that Hamilton did something outrageous today, but it seems that he is the only one causing polemics. Any thoughts?

      1. Warnings i think

    26. Lets see:

      – Monaco, stewards deem Hamilton at fault, cue agreement with stewards.

      – Spa, stewards deem Maldonado at fault, cue ignorance of stewards’ decision.

      Doesn’t take a genius to see that a significant portion of posters today, while not having favourites, certainly know who they don’t like…

      1. And just to clarify it’s not Maldonado who they don’t like…

      2. They may be saying the same thing, but if you actually read the comments, you’d see that the posters are pretty much split down the middle as to why they were ignorant. Half said Maldonado wasn’t punished enough.

        1. Exactly. The majority thinks they weren’t harsh enough for the driving into someone else. They don’t all agree on the mechanics of what happened, but the stewards have it all, so presumably they do know.

    27. So Michael Schumacher gets a 10 place grid drop last year for aggressive defence but not causing an actual accident in Hungary but Maldonado gets a 5 place grid drop for creating an actual accident on purpose.

      Maldonado needs a 10 place drop atleast but i still reckon he shouldnt be allowed to race tomorrow.

      1. Great comparison with the 10 place drop for Schumi.

    28. Don’t you guys know? Hamilton caused the 9/11 attack AND is responsible for the Euro crisis.

      1. and also faked the moon landing!

    29. Well this is simply ludicrous from any interpretation of the situation.

      Let us say that we can’t prove Maldonado did it on purpose. What is he doing racing someone on an in-lap? Did he leave his dinner in the oven or something?

      Let us say Hamilton swerved at him after La Source. What on earth is Maldonado doing squeezing him then? For one, it puts himself in a dangerous position, creating the possibility of flying tyres. Ditto even if you claim Hamilton speared into him for a second time.

      If I were trying to take someone out of a race, I would do exactly as Maldonado: make contact with his front tyre with yours. They came exactly together at this point, maybe it’s a giant fluke but as I said, why are you racing someone that hard and close, with all the track space available to you, on an in-lap? Even if there was no malice involved it shows a clear lack of responsible driving from Maldonado.

      1. Hamilton slowed down to meet with Pastor after la source… i dont call that racing somebody on an in-lap. I see that as Hamilton wanting to give Pastor the finger probably after baulking him at the bus stop chicane.

        You’re also saying in your second paragraph, Hamilton swerved at Pastor first (which instigated the whole incident). Yes, Pastor should never have swerved at him to retaliate, but none the less, Hamilton instigated the first swerving move.

        1. All speculation on your part, no doubt wishful. At least I accept that maybe Pastor was being an idiot and not malicious, unlike yourself.

      2. Well said, after what Mansell said following Monaco, I started to have some doubts about his impartiality with respect to Hamilton, this to me confirms he doesn’t have an entirely clear mind on that.

        Even if Hamilton swerved (but that does seem quite minimal), Maldonado still was somewhere on track where he had no business being, being aggressive and even hitting a competitor, who still had to do another session (unlike MAL), and thus could be harmed. Giving him just a 5 place drop seems very minimal punishment.

        1. I’ve just seen the official statement from the FIA…

          It says the reprimand was given to Hamilton for causing a collision with car number 12… so in their view, Hamilton did make a lunge at Pastor as well.

          1. Which we already knew from the reprimand. It explains nothing of what they think he did to cause the collision.

            I know what you think happened, but the more I see it, the more I see HAM moving, seeing MAL, moving back a bit, then following the, you guessed it, racing line moving to the right. MAL drives diagonally to the edge and grass. At that point, HAM didn’t have much space to do anything at all, even breaking, as MAL was already so close (see that wheelprint on the sidepod).

            So I stil wait to hear why the Stewards think HAM did anything wrong that handed him the reprimand. And if he did cause that collision, why only a reprimand, he should have had a harsh penalty.

            Contrasting it with the MSC 10 place drop a year ago, both the reprimand and the 5 place drop are off.

      3. The thing that makes it worse is the fact that the FIA statement says that he was found to have caused a collision. So he gets the same mark against his name as someone that has an accident, when this was clearly deliberate…

    30. It’s one thing being annoyed at a driver over something that happened on track but to side swipe him in retaliation is incredibly dangerous. Maldonado put his life and Hamilton’s life in danger. These are high powered machines not bumper cars! I would have loved to hear some radio communication from Maldonado after that to hear what his point of view was because surely something was said to the team or visa versa.

    31. I’m sorry but this is simply not good enough.

      For starters, Hamilton should not be given a reprimand, for the simple fact that Maldonado had no hope of getting a lap in, and therefore Hamilton wasn’t in the wrong. He needed to finish his lap without being blocked.

      Maldonado, on the other hand, was quite blatently trying to prove a point, and ended up hitting Hamilton, which is strictly against the rules, in a no contact sport. Especially, given the fact that this was on an in-lap, on a part of the track which had lots of space. It was quite obviously what Maldonado was doing, and I find it despicable.

      Having said that, I would still like to see some on-board footage of Maldonado turning into him.

      I would also like to add, that the 107% rule is in place to keep from cars that are too slow from racing on the track, as it could be dangerous. If you have people like Maldonado doing acts such as these, then I would consider that highly dangerous and shouldn’t be allowed to race.

      1. About on board footage: Adam Cooper on F1:

        Intriguigly the on-board from the Venezuelan’s camera was not available, but Hamilton’s was, as there is a limit to how many cars can be recorded.

        eh. That is really quite unfortunate, isn’t it.

        1. I’d certainly like to see the angle of this steering wheel…

      2. Official statement from the FIA says hamilton given a reprimand after causing a collision with car number 12. It’s official, hamilton is just as guilty as maldonado in this incident.

        1. Martin, calm down. You seem to fight with everyone, repeating the same point over and over again. I get it, you think Hamilton is to blame and not Maldonado, you’ve made that clear. Now can we move on?

          1. Not at all… i think pastor is more to blame, probably 60/40. I just dont like all these Hamilton adoring fans saying he’s mis treated by the stewards!

            1. he is being mistreated by the stewards though…

            2. He is just because he has been wrong before does not mean he is always in the wrong.

        2. Not it is not official.

          What is official is Maldanado is guilty hence the grid drop.

          How do you know that Hamiltons Reprimand is not for the Bus stop minor incident?

          Grid drop vs Reprimand does not equal “just as guilty”

          1. A reprimand is a telling off, so he’s clearly done something wrong.
            If the reprimand is not for swerving at pastor, then it’ll be for bashing wheels with him before the pit straight… either way, he is guilty. If he wasnt guilty, he wouldn’t have been in front of the stewards receiving a reprimand.

        3. Not just as guilty. If that was the case, both would have gotten the same punishment.

          It means that for some reason, the stewards judge, Hamilton was not without blame, while the penalty for Maldonado is far more substantial as he was mainly to blame.

      3. “Having said that, I would still like to see some on-board footage of Maldonado turning into him”

        It wasnt so much turning into him as it was keeping a straight line on a bend, squeezing Hamilton, Maldonado had plenty of room to his right. A 5 place penalty only serves to show Maldonado that can do what he wants in the most unsporting and dangerous manner possible.

        1. Well, to be fair, only when it is against HAM, otherwise he might still have to be more careful.

    32. According to the BBC, some think that Hamilton got off lightly. So maybe there’s more to this than meets the eye?

      1. The BBC people are completely useless when it comes to penalties. They always get it wrong.

      2. Well, it depends on what that reprimand is supposed to be for. If the stewards found that he did move towards Maldonado, then they should have considered actually giving him a penalty.

        I really feel after that reprimand for yellow by BUT,HAM,WEB earlier in the year when they couldn’t really do much to slow down more than they would do otherwise, just to make a point, those aren’t more than: we want to entice everyone (esp. HAM) to be more careful and do more to avoid incidents. So it isn’t an indication that HAM did something wrong here, just that maybe the felt he was involved in an incident again, and he really might have tried more to avoid it.

        There might be more to this than meets the eye, but I can’t see how a 5 place grid drop is harsh enough in comparison to MSC’s 10 place drop after Hungary 2010, and he didn’t hit anyone.

    33. Having seen the incident live and multiple times on replay.
      Maldonado attacked hamilton with malicious content as a revenge during a slow down lap.
      That is BEYOND dangerous driving, he should be suspended.
      give way for the faster driver.

      1. Hamilton is just as much to blame.
        He was given a reprimand by the stewards for ‘causing a collision with car number 12’, according to the official FIA press release.

        1. Whatever that means, really. We’d need to have their actual reasoning, that would be nice.

        2. It was a slow down lap, that means a lot. if you have never raced, you will never know the difference.

          1. Hamilton slowed down on the track after la source to meet Pastor on the track and made the first swerving move against the williams car! grrrrr!

            1. But maybe he just slowed bc. he was on an outlap, why does it have to be malicious? Maldonado on the other hand sped up.

            2. He’d just completed a flying lap and grabbed P1 before the clock stopped… how would that be an out-lap? Clearly not.

            3. He obviously meant in-lap…

              And please provide your reasoning for stating that Hamilton slowed down on the track to meet Maldonado – there’s zero evidence for that. He’s on an in-lap, of course he’s doing to slow down. Besides, how do you know Maldonado wasn’t the one speeding up?

            4. Simon…

              I believe hamilton slowed down, with the intention of gesticulating at pastor as he went by.

              Someone posted a link to the onboard hamilton view, which showed him gesticulating at pastor before they touched.

              Thats the reason why i think hamilton slowed. Before that though, came the swerve.

        3. I think he was reprimanded for making contact into the Bus Stop, actually. I fail to see how Lewis was in any way responsible for the contact out of La Source.

    34. http://t.co/wh7AG62 Hamilton only got a reprimand for being involved in the incident

      1. Considering Hamilton instigated the incident, he’s got off lightly.

        1. Instigated? How so?

          1. He slowed down after la source (probably to give pastor the two finger salute). Hamilton made the first swerve towards Pastor after la source. Watch the video. Apparantly some people are calling it a ‘fish tail’… though he was on a dry line with dry tyres!

            1. 1. He slowed down because the session was over. No need to speed.
              2. Hamilton moved right IMO because that’s were the track went (or to salute. whatever).
              3. Traffic coming from behind (MAL) was able to get out of the way just fine.
              4. It’s not forbidden to ‘salute’ other drivers.
              5. Hamilton got the reprimand for hitting an other car, but that was on Hamilton’s hot-lap. IMO a racing incident which nowadays is punishable.
              6. MAL got the penalty for purposely hitting another car on the end-session in-lap. That’s just rude and uncalled for.

              And please. Please ask us to watch the video again. I can’t get enough of that remark. You excel at it.

            2. Thanks, watch the video again :-p

              I agree, with your comment 1)… though you could also argue he slowed to confront pastor on track (which is what i believe).

              Comment number 2, no… he swerved twice. First swerve was nothing to do with following the track, the second move you could possibly argue yes, it was more track manouvering.

              Comment 6, i agree with you.

            3. He swerved once. Watch the video. LOL

            4. One intentional move of agression is enough.

    35. look at this site it shows u the fia papers

      1. Nice. Pity it doesn’t tell anything more about the reasoning.

      1. Thanks for that.

        What’s interesting here is that the FIA statements give the same time for both infractions and therefore they are referring to the same incident and not Hamilton’s overtake on the last corner.

        The only conclusion I can reach if I consider this information as correct is that the stewards believe Hamilton could have done more to avoid an incident by either drifting further left or braking. I think that’s very harsh.

        1. What’s interesting here is that the FIA statements give the same time for both infractions and therefore they are referring to the same incident and not Hamilton’s overtake on the last corner.

          I find the seconds given suspicious and both the busstop incident and and the La Source incident happened within one minute, so I wouldn’t necessarily say they are both for the same.

    36. This sends entirely the wrong message to young drivers across the world. A 5 place grid penalty is simply not enough to reprimand a driver for DELIBERATELY causing an unnecessary collision in retaliation for a perceived misdemeanor. Regardless or whether Hamilton was right or wrong in the way he overtook Maldonado at the end of the session, there simply is no excuse for deliberately crashing into another driver. I am disgusted.

      1. Maldonado was definitely more to blame for the incident, but as i’ve said time and time again… Hamilton made the first swerving manouevre towards Pastor, after la source. Hamilton instigated the incident.

        1. My interpretation of this is the same as many people; that Hamilton started to move over not realising Pastor was there, then jinked back when he realised. However, even if Hamilton had deliberately moved towards Pastor (but not so much that Pastor had to avoid him), there is no excuse for responding with deliberate contact…especially after the chequered flag!

        2. So then they should have given both a harsh penalty! Two wrongs don’t make a half right.

          However you turn that, Maldonado got off light. I don’t believe HAM needed a penalty, but I might be wrong. In which case I feel he probably should have had a harsher penalty, not just a reprimand.

    37. Here’s my take on what happened, after watching this video a few times:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uC8SOVCfuyw

      At the last corner, there’s a group of several cars all desperately trying to make it to the line for one more lap, Hamilton is at the back of the group. Maldonado leaves enough room for Hamilton to go up the inside, but the two make contact. Martin Brundle and David Coulthard seemed to think that Hamilton was within his rights to do this, and that Maldonado should’ve seen him coming. Having watched the video a few more times, I’m inclined to agree – Maldonado left room, Hamilton took it, the two came together, not desirable (especially not in qualifying), but ultimately a racing incident.

      Exiting La Source, Hamilton has slowed down, Maldonado is further back but then speeds up to get past Hamilton and then moves across into the side of Hamiltons car. On the view of the cars coming down the hill, Hamilton makes a small swerve in the direction of Maldonado – I’m not sure why this is, it’s possibly an aggressive gesture from Lewis. However, from what I see, Maldonado intentionally drives into Hamilton, and this must be motivated by revenge.

      I don’t understand the stewards’ decision. I’m not sure about the reprimand for Hamilton: even though he did make contact with Maldonado at the last corner, and made a dubious swerve towards him afterwards, I’m not certain that it was deserved, unless it’s been dished out for something completely unrelated to this incident.

      Maldonado should’ve been more harshly punished. I don’t think he should be racing tomorrow. Michael Schumacher was excluded from the championship in ’97 for deliberately hitting Villeneuve (although then again similar incidents went unpunished before that). What bothers me most about Maldonado’s actions is not so much that he hit another car, but more that he appeared to be doing so as an act of retaliation for a previous incident. I feel there is a difference between this and colliding with another driver in the pursuit of overtaking or defending a position, even if reckless driving is involved.

      By the way, I’m not saying Hamilton is a totally innocent party, and sometimes he pushes it too far with his on-track moves, but deliberately trying to take someone out because they’ve annoyed you takes things to a different level in my eyes, and I don’t think the stewards’ decision reflects this.

      1. You put that together well. One key point here may be Hamilton’s unexplained swerve before the contact. If not for Hamilton dirtying his hands a bit, Maldonado probably gets the book thrown at him. They concluded that Hamilton kind of waved the red cape to invite the charge. Otherwise I can’t see the stewards giving out a mere grid penalty for intentional contact, especially when there was no actual session on. There is not a lot of precedent in F1 for intentional severe contact without a major penalty.

      2. This was the lap that elevated Lewis to Q3, I don’t believe he slowed down before crossing the line.

    38. Have to admit, I was suspicious about Hamiltons involvement in this, but after seeing the onboard footage from Hamiltons car, it does look like Maldonado was the one that swerved. Right decision imo.

    39. Maldonado was wrong from the point he turned in on Hamilton at the bus stop and was wrong again to try to push Hamilton off the track on the pit straight, I think he probably just wanted to give Hamilton a scare but his lack of driving skill found him wacking Hamiltons front end, this was stupid dangerous and shows a lack of respect for the fans his team and his fellow competitors.

    40. Mansell really should not have been a steward today. He is an emotional and very public detractor of Hamilton’s, and as such cannot possibly have viewed the incident in an objective manner.

      The fact that Maldonado was not DSQ’d, as Martin Brundle said in his BBC commentary, sends completely the wrong message to younger, if not all drivers.

      Wake up FIA.

      1. Stewards are decided days, if not weeks in advance… why shouldnt nigel mansell be a race steward! What a load of rubbish.

        1. Because he is very opinionated about specific drivers and cannot therefore be seen as impartial when making judgements about said drivers. Sadly the FIA don’t get this, but then impartiality was never their speciality.

      2. I agree about your comments about the FIA and younger drivers. The FIA had previously set a fantastic example with Stefan Mucke (although the end result of Stefans ‘mistake’ was more dramatic), but I now seriously worry about how many Karters and ‘lower’ car formula drivers will now feel that it’s perefectly acceptable to drive into another competitor out of revenge because they think that the small penalty is worth it…

    41. If you look at this onboard footage (@ 3:20 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/14691403.stm),you can clearly see Maldonado cuts rights across Hamilton’s path, with Pastor even ending up as far as the grass on the left hand side.

      1. Here’s a youtube link (thanks Damon Smedley!) if you con’t live in the UK: http://youtu.be/8hHG3rPl5UM

        I have to say, in a corner of my mind I wondered if Hamilton could have got out of it and maybe it was partly his fault for turning right at full speed, but this is conclusive beyond any other interpretation.

        1. Interestingly, you can see he raised his hand just before Maldonado came past. Then raised his hand again, seemingly in shock, after the collision.

          1. So my theory was right… hamilton slowed down to gesticulate at pastor, whilst also giving him a crafty swerve at the same time. Both are as bad as each other.

            1. Holding a smooth line is a crafty swerve?

            2. A smooth racing line, with 2 swerving manouvers? Er, ok!

            3. You can’t swerve if you keep your steering wheel straight – which is what Hamilton did in the video.

      2. The head on footage did make it look more marginal, but from that angle it clearly looks as though Maldonado drives right into the side of Hamilton.

        5 place grid penalty seems very lenient, having watched that. As the commentators said at the time, DSQ would be more fitting.

      3. That footage merely confirms to me that this is a terribly lenient punishment. That’s absolutely shocking behaviour from a Formula 1 driver.

    42. Hamilton should think himself lucky they didn’t have a run in after qualifying

    43. Right, so, I have looked at the incident many times, from all the angles available, and here’s my take.

      Firstly from the camera from the rear, looking from La Source. From this view it does appear that Hamilton moves to the right twice, firstly as Maldonado first comes out, and secondly when the incident occurs, however, from this view, it’s difficult to tell whether he was just taking up the normal racing line. It is also clear, that Maldonado moves to the left, across Maldonado, in a somewhat malicious style.

      Secondly, the view from the front. Again Hamilton’s first move can be seen, but here, it clearly looks much more like a move over to take the normal racing line, and then a quick move back to the left when he sees Maldonado being overly racy. The second move also seems very much like taking the normal angle with the curve of the track. From this view, Maldonado is clearly being very racy, and again, it is pretty clear he moves across the front of Hamilton in an agressive way.

      Finally, Hamilton’s onboard, the first twitch isn’t seen here, but this view to me, all but proves the second move was none existent and that Hamilton was taking a normal line following the curve of the road. It can also be seen that Hamilton didn’t make any strange moves of the wheel (in fact one hand had been removed, so he clearly wasn’t expecting any contact). Now onto this view in terms of Maldonado. Well, again, very malicious, this angle really does show the blood on Maldonado’s hands.

      So, we have 3 angles, all of which appear to show a deliberate and malicious act of revenge from Maldonado, whereas only 1 angle shows fault from Hamilton in an ambiguous way. This seems to be cleared by the following two angles.

      So then, the penalties, considering the evidence, they do seem rather ridiculous. How can the punishment for deliberately crashing into another driver be a five place grid penalty? In my opinion, there should be at least a 1 race ban, preferably 3, and perhaps, a super license removal (probably not due to the lack of ability to ultimately prove it was deliberate).

      1. Toothpickbandit
        28th August 2011, 5:03

        100% agree.

    44. Mansell is a Bell
      27th August 2011, 18:43

      Another day, another joke decision by the FIA, I dread to think what you have to do for a DSQ. Leaving HAM out of the equation for a second, delibratly driving into to another car because of the red mist and it was delibrate deserves a immidiate suspension of your super licence followed by a hearing at the FIA in Paris. As for HAMs penalty I can only explain it using Occams Razor.

      1. Long live Nigel Mansell :-p
        In all fairness, i think the penalty towards pastor was lenient. That said, I believe hamilton should have been given a grid drop at the very least too.

    45. Please remain impartial, we all saw the same images. What happened was a very usual but the part when they had contact the rest was a typical disagreement. First hamilton overtook maldonado the fastest way possible to not ruin his lap but in the process not only hre touched maldonado but he also pushed him out of the track ruining Maldonados next lap, anyway maldonado continued and found a satisfied Hamilton running slowly, as a revenge he decided to make an aggressive overtake on Hamilton both were a bit off line but Maldonado DIDN’T HIT Hamilton, Hamilton was the one who hit maldonado I dont believe on his intention, he was still trying to quallify nontheless a risky move which proved very dangerous cause for a weird reason Hamilton decided to cut across he may have not seen maldonado or he made a chicky move

      1. This was their inlap, they had taken the chequered flag when this incident occured. Maldonado’s lap was already ruined by Rubens and Heikki in front before the bus stop. He did go wide and seemed to abandon the lap, to then turn in as Lewis got inside.
        Would love to see some PAstor onboard though

    46. We Want Turbos
      27th August 2011, 18:56

      To the people saying Hamilton turned, of couse he did. Had he not all the Ham haters would be laughing at him for slamming into the barrier. The track is wide enough to get 7 or 8 cars abreast at that point so Maldonado squeezing Hamilton into the barrier was for me a malicious manoeuvre. I would hope that Sir Frank has already sat Pastor down an told him in no uncertain terms that that’s not the way a great team like Williams go racing.

    47. Just saw onboard of Hamilton on BBC didn’t want to make comment on this before I saw onboard…

      Hamilton was ‘waving’ a complaint at pastor at the time, which is fair enough… NO movement on the steering. It is angled for a smooth run through the right hand curve, pastor turns into him. It’s completely non arguable with that footage, no fault of Hamilton. No idea what the warning was for (maybe for arguing with pastor while in the car?) Pastor should have had FAR worse than 5 places!

      1. He shouldn’t be racing on Sunday. There’s no consistency: e.g., Nick’s car is on fire leaving the pitlane and then explodes and bits hit the marshalls and gets no penalty; lewis is attacked by another driver, and he recieves a reprimand…

      2. Do you have a link for it? I can’t find the onboard footage you talk about.

      3. ^ this

        I just don’t get what Hamilton has been reprimanded for, I really don’t.

        As We Want Turbos said above, Hamilton couldn’t turn left anymore, else he’d have gone into the wall… besides which, he was following his line *ahead* of Maldonado, turning right ever-so-slightly as the track curves.

        Still, listening to Maldonado’s explanation, he sounded pretty convincing when he said he’d just had a ‘big moment’… regardless, I feel it was right to penalise him.

        But Hamilton? Really? Maybe he shouldn’t have said what he did about Mansell a couple of months back ; )

        1. Hamilton onboard:
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hHG3rPl5UM

          It’s kinda obvious Maldonaldo swiped him

          1. But where is the footage 5-10 seconds before that?

            I agree from that footage it was Maldonado’s fault 100% but its not a complete picture without the rest of the footage. Maybe onboard with Maldonado would help solve it too.

        2. We Want Turbos
          27th August 2011, 22:18

          Hamilton was more than likely reprimanded for tapping Maldonado on exit of bus stop. Fair enough I suppose. I’ve only got one question though, will Mclaren be able to change the bent suspension, as Lewis managed Q3 with it?

    48. Doesn’t Hamilton get a penalty if he receives another warning? I’m sure he had one at Silverstone for his incident with Massa.

      1. Google says he had no penalty post-Silverstone.

      2. From Wikipedia: “The stewards investigated, but no action was taken.”

    49. More bias against Hamilton. If Lewis had done what the other guy did and caused a crash, he would have been suspended. No consistency other than consistently anti-Lewis. I have no idea, ahem, why they’d have an agenda against Lewis…

    50. As usual, the lack of any detailed explanation from the FIA leaves us all guessing what the verdict was and why the different penalties have been handed down. This is not good enough, and I’m heartily sick of saying it over and over.

      I agree with those who say a five-place penalty for deliberately causing a collision seems too lenient. Given the penalty Montoya got at Monaco in 2005, and Alonso had at Hungary in 2006, for comparable incidents, I expected a stronger penalty for Maldonado.

      Hamilton’s movements in Maldonado’s direction were not very clever. Of course Maldonado was behind him at this point and Hamilton would not have known exactly where the Williams was.

      But this was clearly nothing like as bad as deliberately driving into someone, which the stewards have failed to take a tough line on.

      1. I would’ve thought you’d be used to it by now Keith. This has been going on for decades. The mistake is to believe that this sport has rules.

      2. Keith, do we even know which collision Hamilton was reprimanded for?

        If it was for the overtake on the hot lap, then it suggests you can’t overtake during qualifying – even if you take the right line and the other driver has gone wide / slowed down in the corner.

        If it was for the side-swipe, then the grounds would seem to be pretty flimsy (the onboard Hamilton footage is fairly conclusive) – it does beg the question over whether “sharing” the blame was a way for the stewards to avoid giving a harhser penalty to Maldonado?

        1. The time of incident on both their FIA stewards decisions is the same, indicating it is for the same incident, ie. the side-swipe.

          1. Thanks, that makes sense. Bizarre adjudication!

      3. Well said Keith, how hard could it be to just show us a summary of their findings, very annoying.

        And also well said about the given punishments.

    51. No penalty for Hamilton – what a surprise.

      1. Agreed…!

      2. Have a look at Hamilton’s on-board! Maldonado clearly cuts right across him. Hamilton doesn’t move his hands on the steering wheel.

      1. Cool thanks.

        The clip is too brief though. I’d love to see the whole thing after the 1st turn.

        Is the clip definetely running at normal speed? I t kind of looks a bit weird.

      2. Pretty obvious from that angle that Maldonado cut across Hamilton hence his penalty for ‘Causing a collision with Car 3’.

        Hamilton only made contact with Maldonado at the final chicane so I can only assume that was why he was reprimanded for ‘Causing a collision with Car 12’. If it was for his wobble in front of Maldonado at La Source then I would expect a different reason for the penalty to be given.

        These are all assumptions on my part given the lack of explanation from the FIA which seems ridiculous. They obviously investigated the incident so how difficult can it be to write a two sentence summary?

      3. That is after Hamilton has swerved back to his left when he saw Maldonado coming up on him at high speed, hence the gesture.

    52. It’s a heckuva contrast with NASCAR’s “boys have at it” approach, though, isn’t it?

      In NASCAR, purely retaliatory collisions are treated as part of the show and even on occasions where cars have launched into catch fencing, coming pretty close to showering the crowd with debris, it’s considered, I don’t know, reasonable self-policing conduct or something, going back decades (clearly it’s the kind of thing that makes for good viewing figures and press, and I’m also reminded of Champcar’s leniency towards some pretty horrible fouls by Paul Tracy).

      I think this was a case of Maldonado venting his frustrations in a retaliatory act and I think F1 does right to take a dim view of it, but it seems a fairly proportional penalty to me. Although it resulted in contact and Schumacher’s nasty in Hungary didn’t, I still think it was less dangerous than that and so a 5 spot penalty is consistent, or at least far less inconsistent that some calls we’ve seen from race stewards.

      1. nascar has fenders, Open wheel cars don’t. No need to be touching anyone for revenge. In nascar the fans really enjoy the crashes.. I don’t know any F1 fan who enjoys crashes. I cringe every single time one happens, even if its my least favourite driver.

        I’m American by the way and think F1 should not take any cues from nascar or any american racing for that matter. I like F1 because its about the racing, not the accidents or the off track nonsense.

    53. themagicofspeed (@)
      27th August 2011, 19:32

      good to see maldonado getting his just revenge, for when hamilton wiped him out in monaco. i was clapping at the tv.

      1. Except that he didn’t achieve anything other than get himself a penalty.

        1. themagicofspeed (@)
          27th August 2011, 22:03

          Yeah, in that sense, it was a pretty brainless thing to do. Im not a hamilton fan, but i don’t quite understand why hamilton got a reprimand as well, although admittedly i have only seen the incident once or twice on TV so maybe im missing something.

      2. And I don’t know how anyone can condone that kind of activity. Fair enough if you send a mad one up the inside as a mistake but deliberately attacking someone else in this sport especially needs to be punished harshly.

      3. Hamilton and Maldonado collided during a race, racing for position.

        Maldonado swiped Hamilton on an in-lap when the session was over, which is _entirly_ different.

        He’s a complete disgrace to the sport.

        1. “He’s a complete disgrace to the sport”

          +1

          I really hope Sir Frank gives him a stern talking to.

      4. Just revenge for what? turning into Lewis before the corner?

    54. Hamilton survived the drama of a collision at the end of Q2 when Maldonado drove into him, and was able to fight for pole in Q3 though his McLaren’s suspension was slightly out of line.

      FROM THE F1 WEBSITE.
      http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2011/8/12458.html
      whoever is saying that Hamilton drove into Maldonado is clearly wrong. End of.

    55. In my view, the FIA are, by there actions are leaning heavily towards the politically correct idiot party, demonstrating a desire to gut any kind of real racing in Formula 1 with such micromanagement verging on stupidity. Racing is NOT inherently safe and thats is why its so exiting, the best drivers in the world going full on to win, bump a bloke and your out? what utter nonsense! The questionable calls from the marshals should be challenged by us the fans, votes if you like, to bring back the ‘seat of your pants’ excitement to a sport that should be run on the ragged edge. amen

    56. To all those who say Lewis jinked right twice to intimidate Maldonado, here is a quote from Lewis; which would seem obvious from anyone who saw the incident –
      “I went a little bit right and I saw he’d moved out so I went back and then he was in a blind spot. I thought he was coming past and then he ended up coming into me.”

    57. What A joke alot of peoples views are towards hamilton, ive read it on here every race! Why cant people be impartial and enjoy f1 properly and fairly. Hamilton had every right to go for the inside line as all three of the cars ahead had effectivly slowed, look at the close up video and hamilton is steering full lock left the whole way when maldonado just keeps turning into him, Then maldonado just swipes him on the start finish (dont give me this rubbish about hamilton twitching what a lame excuse) so maldonado sould be banned from the race!!!! bet it would of been soooo different if the drivers swapped places!!!

      1. With this weak penalty from the stewards, If I were Sir Frank Williams I would withdraw his car from the race as a team punishment showing him this is not exceptable for a Williams driver. I’m sure there are performance clauses in the sponsor deal in that the team can drop him if he does bad and still retain sponsorship. Well Maldonado’s performace today was worse than just bad results.

        1. He has stockholders to answer to now.. I don’t think pulling a car is possible.

          Or its kind of like telling the judge to add a couple years to the sentence because the sentence was too lenient. Never will happen.

    58. I found the qualifying highlights and you can see the accident from an Onboard camera

      http://www.f1arab.com/2011/08/27/belgian-gp-2011-qualifying-highlights/

      1. Thanks for posting. Best quality footage I saw of it so far.

    59. So let me get this straight. If you park your car on the track and impede qualifying will be sent to the back of the grid, but if you just purposefully drive across another car you only get a five place penalty? Somehow that “punishment” seems a bit disproportionate for what the results could have been. Maldonado should have been disqualified from racing and received a year suspended ban to make him think about doing this again. That idiot is going to kill someone.

      1. We do have to take into account that the punishments in the Mosley era had a tendency to be over the top, or non-existent, depending on what team you drove for and what driver you were. But even with that, it seems way too light.

        And due to that, it also looks like a bit of a return to that era in that if it involves HAM, everyone else gets blamed/punished a bit les.

        1. and HAM get’s at least a reprimand when people drive into him.

    60. The big issue for me here is not the penalty for either driver, but the fact that this took place at the end of a session. This comes from a sport that frowns on its drivers doing doughnuts at the end of races, yet it appears that knocking ten bells out of an opponent is acceptable. Curious!
      Personally I think it adds spice to the racing when two drivers obviously don’t like each other very much, but there must be a limit to it. If the FIA are serious about safety they have to crackdown ‘hard’ on events like this which in this case they did not do. The danger is that it will send the wrong message to the rest of the drivers in that they will consider running into rivals on purpose as acceptable. We had the same argument twenty years ago after Senna took out Prost to win a world championship, which resulted in alot of huff and puff from the FIA but Aryton still kept his title.
      The same will happen here because nobody got hurt, F1 gets good media coverage from it, and everybody is happy.
      From the stand point of Pastor Maldonado I think Williams need to nip this in the bud. Maldonado obviously did not like the move Lewis pulled on him at the end of the lap and allowed his temper to get the better of him. He may or may not still be angry about his collision in Monaco involving Hamilton which put the rookie out of the grands prix. All that being said, someone at Williams needs to talk to the boy, maybe even Frank himself, so this does not fester for too long.
      Hamilton as we all no will never change his style behind the wheel of an F1 car. The big difference between Lewis and Pastor is that Hamilton has one world championship and a dozen wins under his belt, and Maldonado is a rookie in his first season with a team that has seen far better days than this.
      We know that Maldonado brought with him millions in sponsorship money, but Williams are not a team that will tolerate this sort of thing for long from a driver who has certainly not improved on Nico Hulkenberg’s 2010 performance.
      Maybe that is why in the interviews aferwards, Pastor looked the more anxious of the two drivers.

      1. Yea the Senna/Prost incident came to my mind too, but that was entirely different as it took place under race conditions, all green. Maldonado/Hamilton occured in Q, End of Session. Apples and Oranges.
        I know you don’t mean to, but please don’t compare Senna’s behaviour to that of Maldonado; one is a legend, the other is a disgrace.

    61. heres an onboard from hamilton
      http://youtu.be/8hHG3rPl5UM

    62. I’d like to avoid pointless name-calling or petty insults and here are my thoughts on this:

      1. I’ve looked at the incident from different angles and the first twitch from the McLaren looked to be either from grip (seems less likely), or moving out of Maldonado’s way after noticing him (more supported with interviews).
      2. The second movement that Maldonado defenders have noted, can be shown from Hamilton’s onboard shot. After moving to the left, Hamilton simply follows the bend of the track. During this, there’s no movement in the steering wheel while he’s ‘waving’ at Maldonado to his right.
      3. Then came the contact, where Maldonado’s Williams seems to going straight; along a right bend. Whether he was simply slipped up while making a rude ‘gesture’ to Lewis or overtaking him, it was way too close for post-session.

      With the time on the official sanctions, you can see that Hamilton got his reprimand from the La Source incident. We can therefore take the Bus-stop chicane incident out of the equation. However, I’d like some insight as to why the reprimand was given.
      I think that covers what’s been said in the comments so far. (sorry if I missed something)

      1. Totally with you, adding that Hamilton’s gesture or wave probably was a “DUDE, the session is over, we’re cruising man”

        Seriously wondering why LH bothers to go to race weekends anymore…

      2. My guess is, that the hand gesture might have been the reason for giving Hamilton a reprimand, as it might be deemed to rather have upset Maldonado even more, when just not reacting might have been wiser.

        1. Hmm. That would tie to the official reason for the sanction.
          It just doesn’t sit right with me though. I can’t think of an incident, spurred on by a hand gesture, from the top of my head. (and we’ve seen hand gestures a lot ;p)

          ps. (the thought follows that maybe Vettel’s finger is a rude gesture to the other drivers jkjk)

    63. lol @ all the “HAM swerved into him lot”. Some ppl just do not deserve attention.

    64. Well if we follow the stewards’ logic, they find both drivers guilty of causing a collision which is against the sporting code and therefore warrants a penalty.

      Regardless of the validity of the steward’s assessment of the incident, same crime for both drivers, but different penalties?

    65. Are we watching bumper cars like on top gear?

    66. Mansell is a Bell
      27th August 2011, 23:44

      I wonder if Alonso was aware that backing up the Williams would cause Hamilton grief, bit like the coincedence of Massa being released to ruin Hamiltons run in Monaco :)

    67. Think Frank Williams must be embarassed to have the likes of Maldanado driving a Williams. what he did today was disgraceful and he shud have got banned. If Hamilton or ALonso did that, there wud be calls for his super licence to be revoked

    68. No way should Hamilton be reprimanded. It looks like Maldonado fell asleep. I don’t see the difference between the Schumacher and Barrichello incident last year at Hungary.

    69. Younger Hamii
      28th August 2011, 0:35

      McLaren should sue Maldonado & to make things Worst for him,Give Hulkenberg Maldonado’s seat,the one he truly deserved when he got Williams their First pole in 7 Years

      1. Sue him for what?

        You don’t see anyone being sued in any other form of sport.

    70. I’d like to hear what Ham and Mal had to say on the matter rather than the press’ version of what they saw from FOM.

      It’s very easy to take sides depending on what journalist you like the most.

    71. Poor Hammy. He banged wheels to get a bit more lap time when he didn’t have to and then tries on lauding it over Maldanado on the straight; then gets smacked and whinges after the bloke goes him. What a pussy.

    72. every time i see Maldonado’s picture I always felt i’ve seen this guy somewhere before, now i know where. has uncanny resemblance to “Alberto The Shadow” the killer of the classic film “Scarface” who couldn’t speak English and was sent by Sousa the Bolivian drug Kingpin to kill the journalist whom Tony Montana blew off his head in the car. Maybe he was hurrying to watch the film hence he crashed into Lewis. lol

    73. I thought I would wait until this decision the be made before I made my opinion. After the result I think it is way to lenient, I am a Hamilton fan so I might be a bit bias but you just cant move over like that. I too thought that Maldonado should of been banned for at least this race but I this is what I expected. I wonder what Frank would of said to Maldonado after…

    74. Hamilton did nothing wrong in his flying lap but I think it was him that moved towards right in the slowing down lap? Why was Pastor have the penalty for? Mansell shouldn’t be in the steward anymore from now on.

    75. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qek88QxYbW0&feature=related

      Looking at the replay of the Bus Stop, I actually think that what Hamilton did was really rather selfish. Pastor Maldonado was slow into the Bus Stop, but Hamilton’s lunge was an attempt to get an extra lap in – and that was ultimately foolhardy, because Heikki Kovalainen (ahead of Barrichello and Maldonado) didn’t even make it.

      Maldonado qualified in 16th, with a time of 2:08.106 on his final lap. But in the drying conditions, he probably stood a chance at beating Barrichello (2:07.349) and Adrian Sutil (2:07.777). However, the video above clearly shows Hamilton forcing Maldonado to run wide out of the Bus Stop; even Martin Brundle and David Coulthard pointed it out. This probably would have cost Maldonado a few tenths of a second, and potentially robbed him of 14th place on the grid.

      Now, I’m not saying I agree with what Maldonado did coming out of La Source. But I think Hamilton’s move at the Bus Stop was very selfish. If he hadn’t set a lap time by then, he probably would have made Q3 even if he had been held up by Maldonado. His lunge for the line was ultimately pointless, and what’s more, it pushed another driver out of the way, (possibly) robbing him of a better grid position.

      So I can understand why Hamilton got a reprimand. The dive into the Bus Stop was as unnecessary as it was fruitless, and clearly the move that inspired Maldonado to sideswipe him. Hamilton simply did not respect the right of another racer to set a competitive lap time. It was a “me first, me first!” moment, and I really have no sympathy for him.

      1. Selfish? yes, all drivers are in it for themselves and their own teams!!!

        Pointless? no, he had to make the cut to Q3 and wouldn’t have if he decided to slow down. It was do or die and it worked. Otherwise what’s the point?

        Force Pastor offline on entry? I think you will find that Pastor did that all too well by himself!!!

        From your previous posts, I get that u and Australian law enforcement don’t like Hamilton, point taken.

        1. Pointless? no, he had to make the cut to Q3 and wouldn’t have if he decided to slow down. It was do or die and it worked.

          And at the expense of another driver being able to set a competitive lap time of his own. How is that sporting at all?

          Force Pastor offline on entry? I think you will find that Pastor did that all too well by himself!!!

          Re-read my post – I never said he forced Maldonado off-line going into the corner. I said he forced Maldonado wide coming out of it. If you look at the video, there is an aerial shot of them coming out of the Bus Stop. There is clearly a dry line forming. However, Hamilton barges in and forces Maldonado to run wide on the exit, out onto the wet track.

          From your previous posts, I get that u and Australian law enforcement don’t like Hamilton, point taken.

          It’s not that I don’t like Hamilton. I have no issue with him; I don’t particularly like him, but I don’t particularly dislike him, either. No, the people I have trouble with are Lewis Hamilton’s fans, who seem to expect that there should be one set of rules for Hamilton and one set of rules for everyone else – and when Hamilton gets a penalty, they whinge about “inconsistency” among the stewards. Take Monaco, for example: Hamilton got a penalty for his tangle with Massa at the hairpin, and according to Hamilton’s fans, the stewards were out to get him. But they ignored the fact that Paul di Resta did exactly the same thing at the same corner and got exactly the same penalty.

          Whether or not Hamilton’s move on Maldonado was justified or not remains to be seen. But it was clearly the antecedant that inspired Maldonado to take a swipe at him. Maldonado clearly felt that Hamilton’s move robbed him of a better lap time, and so decided to make his feelings known. If Hamilton hadn’t made the move, Maldonado wouldn’t have attacked, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Ergo, Hamilton deserved a reprimand for (unwittingly) provoking Maldonado.

          Or do you think Maldonado is so unstable that he just goes around attacking people because he feels like it? If so, a) why hadn’t he done it before, and b) how did he ever get to become a racing driver?

          1. the point is, Pastor left the door open and Hamilton took it fairly, with a bit of a brush, no harm done. on exit LH is ahead, Pastor has to give way or cause an avoidable collision (you do remember Lewis got punished for not giving way to the car ahead causing incidents numerous times? last time with Pastor right? LH had no way of knowing if his previous time would be good enough to go to the next round in the dying seconds(Button anyone?), so had to push! I dont think you give allowances for the pressure experienced by these guys. oh and I never commented on the mental aspects of Pastor, I will now, he lost it! I have been around this site long enough to know you never admit defeat on this blog, enjoy the race!

            1. I dont think you give allowances for the pressure experienced by these guys

              And like I’ve already said, “I was under pressure to make it into Q3” is not a good enough excuse for compromising another driver’s lap.

        2. I get that u and Australian law enforcement don’t like Hamilton

          Also, when Hamilton was spotted hooning in Melbourne, he was breaking the law. Why should he be let go, when a professional racing driver of all people should know better?

          1. He was entertaining fans (who loved it by the way). He is no Australian national, how was he to know of how that would have been received by the authorities?

            1. Common sense.

      2. You do know Hamilton was about to be eliminated, right?

        1. His laptime in Q2 was a 2:02.823. The cut-off time for Q3 was a 2:04.692. Do you honestly expect me to believe that Maldonado would have cost Hamilton 1.8 seconds if Hamilton had not lunged at him like that? The worst-case scenario I could think of would involve Hamilton losing half a second behind Maldonado and finishing the session seventh rather than second.

          And the excuse “I was about to be eliminated” is a pretty thin justification for forcing another driver off the racing line. If Hamilton has the right to set a competitive lap time, then so does Maldonado. If Hamilton gets held up in traffic and ends up getting knocked out in Q2, then that’s no body’s fault but Lewis Hamilton’s.

          1. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that Maldonado would have cost Hamilton 1.8 seconds if Hamilton had not lunged at him like that?”

            You really think any driver knows how much time they have in hand? Don’t give me math.

            “If Hamilton has the right to set a competitive lap time, then so does Maldonado.”

            Exactly. Let them settle on track who gets the chance to. Like Hamilton did.

            1. You really think any driver knows how much time they have in hand? Don’t give me math.

              Well, given that circuit is divided into three sectors, the team could reasonably give Hamilton up-to-date information about his lap time. And given that he didn’t encounter Maldonado until the final corner of the circuit, it’s completely feasible that Hamilton could have waited his turn and made it into Q3.

              Let them settle on track who gets the chance to. Like Hamilton did.

              At the expense of another driver’s lap time. That’s not sporting. Hamilton barged past Maldonado, costing Maldonado time. But if he hadn’t, he could have made it into Q3 without comrpomising his lap time.

              And like I said, if Hamilton didn’t make the move, was caught out behind Maldonado and failed to make Q3, well, that’s his own stupid fault for leaving the lap too late.

          2. If one driver goes into a corner slowly and offline, then why on earth would you expect another driver behind them – on a hot lap themselves – to just sit back and let it ruin their own lap?

            Seriously, it’s getting ridiculous. Moves like this, when done fairly (as I believe this one was), should be applauded in what is supposedly the pinnacle of motorsport – not looked down on for being “selfish”.

            Imagine it was 2 drivers right at the sharp end of the championship involved – one goes deep into a corner and the other, knowing they’ll have their own qualifying efforts compromised if they sit back, darts down the inside to lose as little time as possible. That’s exactly the kind of thing I want to see in F1, whether it be during qualifying or the race.

            The last thing we need is a (more) sanitized version of F1, so let’s not start talking as though that’s what we, as fans, want!

            1. If one driver goes into a corner slowly and offline, then why on earth would you expect another driver behind them – on a hot lap themselves – to just sit back and let it ruin their own lap?

              I wouldn’t. My issue with Hamilton is the way he forced Maldonado wide. I’m not talking about the first corner of the Bus Stop; I’m talking about the second.

            2. I can see where you’re coming from, since the aerial shot shows Hamilton stayed in the middle of the dry line, rather than on the left hand side of it (which would have given Maldonado a little more room).

              However, it was Maldonado’s own choice / mistake on the chicane that gave Hamilton an opportunity; one he was entitled to take and did so fairly. He took the fastest way through the corner, which has to be the primary consideration, rather than the positioning of other cars on the corner.

              In the heat of the moment, I can understand why Maldonado was upset, but he only has himself to blame for what happened.

      3. Hamilton’s ‘lunge’ was to get the best lap time on that lap, not to get another lap in. It wasn’t ‘ultimately foolhardy’ because he made it into Q3 and qualified 2nd on the grid.

        What planet are you on?

    76. To: Pastor Maldonado, Marshall injuring F1 driver
      From: d3v0, a fan of motor racing
      RE: Red mist (see also: pot calling kettle black)

      Why the hell are you able to start the race? Presumably our man Nige would have seen telemetry data and a change of steering angle towards Lewis (left) during La Source (right) corner should have resulted in a much more severe infraction. A five place grid drop? Who cares? He starts 15th anyway or something like that. He could have taken Lewis out of qualifying, caused an accident, hit a spectator with carbon fibre…for what? Because he had the red mist? This isnt New Jersey rush hour, you stupid rookie. Its Formula One and you’re driving a multi-million dollar grand prix car with a team that was legendary before you were squirted in your mother’s belly. Grow up kid, or get sent to some other series where your country can pay $15 million to drive like a child. And on your way out Pastor, make sure not to permanently injure any more marshalls with your rubbish driving.

      1. And on your way out Pastor, make sure not to permanently injure any more marshalls with your rubbish driving.

        When has Maldonado ever injured a marshall?

        1. Dude, you have got to be kidding me. Seriously, do a bit of reading before you post something. You have Google right?
          http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/4578667.stm

          1. Wow, that’s amazing, I didn’t even know that happened! There’s certainly an aggressive streak in Maldonado…

            1. Aggressive/reckless/stupid, agreed fully. And I dont mean to sound like a psycho prattling on about a certain driver, but that kind of action – during qualifying – is completely unacceptable. Are you able to get points on your Super License?

              Anyone else remember Schumi at Belgium going after Coulthard in the Ferrari v McLaren days? At least Schumi was man enough to meet him in the garage, instead of smashing into him on track like some playground sissy taking a cheapshot in the sandbox.

          2. Dude, you have got to be kidding me. Seriously, do a bit of reading before you post something.

            You expect me to be able to recall a six-year-old incident from a series I do not follow and get no coverage of, and you expect me to do it on demand?

    77. I think at the end we do not have enough information to clearly know what happened, so we need to trust the stewards judgment. Just a quick note on Hamilton and his behavior in general. This guy is very strong : he manipulates information and has a great way of communicating so (almost) everyone swallows his words. Remember Schumi was the same. Dont get me wrong, he is one of the greatest drivers I’ve ever seen, but he should evolve to get to a more honest way to communicate and behave and more people outside of the UK will like him better. When on the radio, as he knows millions of people are listening he just issues manipulation statements. Same in interviews.

    78. Maldonado no perdio la vuelta por culpa de Hamilton tenia 4 sec por debajo ya. Hamilton es el unico corredor en la f1 actual los demas son buenos chofeures, suerte mañana.

    79. I honestly think these discussions will be less argumentative if the stewards give us more information on the factors the took into consideration and how they arrived at their decision. Just like they did with Button and Hamilton at Canada. Telling us Hamilton was reprimanded gives room for asummaptions on what exactly he was reprimanded for. The move by Maldonado was dangerous and unsportsmanship and should have been given a harsher punishment considering the fact that the session was even over!. Come on! how can changing a gearbox or engine recieve a harsher punishment than such a potentially lethal unsportsmanship move? If Hamilton did something wrong, he needs to be punished accordingly and viewers told what he did wrong and why he was punished.

    80. Wow. Nearly 400 comments, can’t be far off a record?

      I’ve just watched the incident back on YouTube. Initially I though Hamilton could have been at fault but on closer inspection, Maldonado’s line into La Source is pretty dreadful so he should be more than aware that Hamilton, or indeed any other driver, is going to be poised to take advantage. Stinks of Maldonado clutching at straws and trying to retain a line he had lost.

      I fail to see why Hamilton would even get a reprimand. He did have a coming together at La Source but he would have fully expected Maldonado to yield.

      Regarding Maldonado’s punishment, I think it’s proportionate enough. He’s a rookie. However, if it happens again they should come down on him like a tonne of bricks.

      1. Yep, that is close to a record. Keith can help us on that…

        I don’t think being a rookie is an excuse in this instance. Rookies make mistakes and cause problems for other drivers and that is fair enough for a rookie argument. This was a deliberate attempt to ruin qualifying for another driver and putting lives at risk. That is my books has nothing to do with a being a rookie and needs a severe punishment to send a message that if you have an issue with a driver, settle it outside the track!

    81. I don’t know what some of you were watching but the replay I was watching, I saw Maldonado pull out come along side Hamilton turn his car at Hamilton which made Hamilton twitch away from Maldonado, then Maldonado moved just ahead and just turned his car sharply smashing into Hamilton.

      As for those of you saying Maldonado was following his racing line, The Flags were Out and Qualifying was OVER

      Stewards reprimand for Hamilton just goes to show that they are out to get Hamilton for every thing they can.

    82. It’s so funny the majority of the comments try to make anyone who thinks Hamilton was just as guilty seem crazy.

      This is from james allen’s website. Note a rival boss’ comments.

      “Close inspection of the replays show that as Maldonado drives past him after their contact in the final corner of their Q2 laps, Hamilton moved to the right on two occasions, but on the second occasion Maldonado drove into him. It is for this deliberate action that Maldonado has been punished.

      One rival team boss said that Hamilton was equally at fault in the incident and his body language afterwards indicated that he felt he might be in for a penalty. He even talked about the possible scenario that he could be starting the race near his team mate, Jenson Button, who is 13th on the grid.”

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