Maldonado and Kobayashi fined after incidents

2012 British Grand Prix

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Pastor Maldonado and Kamui Kobayashi were fined after incidents during the British Grand Prix.

Maldonado was handed a ??10,000 fine and a reprimand for his collision with Sergio Perez during the race. Perez retired following the collision at Brooklands.

The stewards’ decision stated: “In view of the serious nature of the incident the stewards have decided under Article 18.1 to apply two penalties.”

Kobayashi received a ??25,000 fine for an unsafe pit stop after hitting several members of his pit crew.

“The accident at the pit stop was my fault and I want to apologise to the team,” said Kobayashi.

“Of course I had to push hard for points, but without doubt I braked too late in the pit lane.

“The front wheels locked, I couldn’t control the car, and this is how I overshot the pit box. I am terribly sorry this happened, and I hope the three mechanics I hit get well soon.”

The team confirmed on Twitter one mechanic had an injured thumb and the other suffered cuts and bruises to his left leg.

2012 British Grand Prix

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Image © Williams/LAT

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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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94 comments on “Maldonado and Kobayashi fined after incidents”

  1. And once again Maldonado recieves a slap on the wrist. This woud be comical if it wasn’t so upsetting.

    1. @guilherme Strange to see a driver receive a fine for an on-track incident. I’ll have to have a look but I can’t remember that happening very often.

      1. Vergne did get one last time, maybe a new trend being set?

        I do think that when the stewards say its a more harsh penalty because of how serious the accident was, its feels tragicomical that Kobayashi gets a higher fine for hitting his own pit team.

        1. Very true @bascb.

          Of course that incident itself was quite a dangerous one, and teams have gotten a $25k fine for unsafe releases before, but it does work oddly.

          Personally I found Sky’s analysis of that Perez/ Maldonado incident convincing and find myself agreeing with Herbert that MAL didn’t do very much wrong on this occasion, but that he does need to be more aware of things around him; having cold tyres isn’t an excuse, it is a reason to be more careful.

          1. Look ; we saw a very aggressive, similar passes from PER to other drivers, and in a close fight, they respected the line and let PER go through…..the problem with MAL is that he will not accept that PER (a mexican) could pass him (oh, the shame, what would Chavez think?) so he hit PER on the side -same as with HAM- and took him out of the race. Easy, simple, road rage. He deserves a higher penalty (not $$$).I hope next time they ban him for a race or something important.

      2. Didn’t Sutil get one after Brazil 09? Or am I dreaming..?

        1. Sutil was not punished after Brazil 09. The stewards found that Trulli was overreacting and that Sutil was innocent.

    2. indeed, I guess he really is going to have to seriously injure another driver before anything is actually done…..

      1. Completely agree, he is going to hurt someone one day. He has looked dangerous since that clash with Hamilton at Spa.

    3. I think Maldonado should change his name to Pastor Abandonado

      1. Crashtor Maldinono
        8th July 2012, 23:13

        He should from now on be called Crashtor Maldinono! ;)

    4. yeah this is ridiculous. Malaysia 2011 Alonso and Hamilton get together and Alonso loses his front wing and has to pit for a new one. And then gets a drive through penalty. Hamilton’s car was ok. A racing incident and the one suffering was penalized (one of MANY MANY MANY examples). And Maldonado gets NOTHING. This is starting to smell…

      1. I feel for Williams. They have a driver with great speed, but drives like a child! The amount of points that have been thrown away, undeliverable. And then Bruno is not there either to capitalise if his team mate is crashing out. Bruno is the opposite, has a cool head, but just not as quick. It must be so frustrating for them. Makes me wonder where the team would be if they had a driver like Alonso.

        1. Bruno contributed points for Williams in 5 races.

  2. A grid penalty would have fit Maldonado’s crime considering he took out another competitor. I don’t think drivers should effectively get away with causing another driver to retire.

    A fine for Kobayashi is suitable I think. I’ve never seen grid penalties for any other driver running down their pit crew. But that incident was scary to watch the first time I saw it.

    1. I think it would have been better to maybe see Kobayashi handed a punishement that forces him to help up-pack/pack-up there garage at the end of a race or something, put him in the shoes of some of the people he works around rather than a meaningless fine… might also help build any stranged bridges

      1. @baldgye I heard that Kobayashi once helped his mechanics fix his car after he’d crashed it. So he does have some experience of being in his mechanic’s shoes.

      2. Or maybe the mechanics could just drive their VW Golfs at his ankles. Sounds a bit progressive and “restorative justice” for F1.

      3. Because obviously Kobayashi thinks nothing of them and the work they do and just likes to occasionally run them over for the fun of it since they are insignificant little beings.

        Lets get serious shall we? The guy obviously feels like shιt for it. When stuff like that happen usually the one making the mistake feels ten times worse than the other guy.

  3. A reprimand? You’ve got to be kidding me. Pastor is on a rampage since last GP, I mean, we like (I like) aggresive drivers but not daredevils.

    1. Maldonado is a jerk…He thinks, he is in Venezuela. When Hugo Chavez will die, he will be a zero, backthere, too.

  4. €10,000 fine is too lenient for Maldonado!!!

    1. Come on, the amount is fair. He didn’t kill anyone….YET!!!!!!!!

      1. F1.com is reporting the fines the other way around. 25k for MAL, 10k for KOB.

        http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13566.html

        1. @hare

          They’ve got it wrong – the stewards’ documents on the FIA website show Maldonado has the €10,000 fine and reprimand, Kobayashi has the €25,000 fine.

          1. One could argue that the Stewards got it wrong, and that F1.com got it right. ;) It is inconceivable to me that if you are going to be this lenient on Maldonado (and not impose a more fitting ban or a race penalty) that Kobayashi should be fined a larger amount for something that is very much more clear to be a genuine accident.

  5. This was a racing incident to me, specially since they were on cold tyres and Maldonado didn’t look like he intended to push Perez off the track, it looked like he lost the rear a bit and overcorrected it.

    But I do agree failing to fully penalize a driver for continuos incidents on track (most of them his fault) is clearly a mistake by the FIA. You can’t expect to receive a yellow card at every single match during a tournament and not be banned from a match or two. Not saying Maldonado deserves a race ban, but clearly something needs to be done. Otherwise, you just encourage him to keep trying the aggressive way.

    1. I completey agree with everything you said.

    2. 100% Agree with that, very well said.

    3. Agreed as well. Would be much more impressive to watch a clean battle, such as Alonso and Webber did for 1st. That is talented and respectable driving, unlike what Maldonado has been doing.

    4. That just about sums it up for me.

    5. + 1

      Yep this one looked very much like a racing incident.
      PM could probably do with some wise words in the ear.

      But who knowns perhaps its some long term evil plan to make other drivers scared of him in future races so they dont go wheel 2 wheel.

    6. Williams need to get involved and further increase their drivers qualities. Maldonado does not lack pace, but he have to become a more intelligent driver.

      Williams possibly got future star in their car, but he will fade away if he keep crashing and not learning.

      All Champs been crashing right and left at some point, but most of them don’t need to do it twice to learn it. Maldonado cost Williams three high scoring finishes, considering he is mostly the one pulling the weight for Williams, he must act accordingly. And if he can’t Williams must help him.

      Personally, I do not approve of Maldonado’s incidents or justify in any way. But this guy got raw speed(not just another talented driver), he is one of the fastest guys on the grid right now, but he is far from having whole package. Williams will miss out if they loose him due to other factors other than if he lacked speed.

  6. What a joke of a punishment.

    A meaningless monetry fine for an obviously danger driver who has 10’s of millions in backing, yeh stewards! that’ll do it!

    The reason he continues to do stupid things is precisly because he keeps going under punished. Though no doubt another opportunity will arise over the next races, will they continue to ignore the elephant in the room? Or wait until someone is seriously hurt.

    1. It’s come to the point where now if you see MAL near another car, you think “oh look out, this could result in contact”. So much so, that as soon as I saw PER get a tow in the DRS and tried to go around the outside, I immediately knew there was going to be contact, and gee, what do you know! And its the opposite when you see ALO and WEB go wheel to wheel, you know its going to be good, and will get really tight, but there is so much respect that it will never end in contact. That’s the issue, MAL has no respect for ANYONE on the track!

      1. @ivz it’s funny you say that because when Malonado was catching Hamilton as Hamilton’s tyres were going off in Valencia I was thinking exactly the same thing. Hamilton was never going to give up the position without a fight and when the words ‘fight’ and ‘Maldonado’ are in the same sentence you know what’s coming…

  7. The respective fines appear to completely out of step with the offences. Kobayashi made an error which damaged his own team’s race, whereas Maldonado’s repeated robust driving which resulted in a competitor’s race is ended meets with a minor reaction.
    For several other overtaking moves around the outside at the same turn there was plenty of space, and yet Maldonado fails to give enough room again.
    He’s a liability who needs to be calmed down. I would advocate a race ban, actual or suspended until he can prove he is capable of reasonable driving behaviour.

    1. I see your point (and agree that Mal’s a dangerous ****) but Kobayashi did actually injure people…

      1. Oh sorry, mild swearing not allowed?

        1. I see your point (and agree that Mal’s dangerous) but Kobayashi did actually injure people…

          Comment with swear word redacted :)

          1. I agree, injuring people (whoever they are) is much more serious, the actual consequences should be taken into account.

            Wonder if we’ll see any of the new, improved communication from the stewards – or maybe it’s too soon for that.

  8. Maldonado is not far from race ban…

    1. if this would happens he will buy the entrance, like it was in Moanco with persona non grata title..

    2. I was expecting this today. I don’t understand FIA punishments.

    3. And what do you reckon should have happened if Alonso did clip Webber’s wing at the start?

    4. Everything is becoming so sterile and drivers adapt and abuse it. This new “Front wing at Rear Wheel” rule is obvious result, plainly stupid.

      James Hunt crashed into Mario Andretti cause he though; “We don’t ovetake on outside in Formula 1”

  9. I believe that had it been another driver, he would have been let off with a reprimand. But Pastor was fined for his consecutive involvement in incidents. This was a racing incident

  10. A £10,000 fine is a joke. In my opinion the FIA should be dealing with the series of incidents Maldonado is involved far more seriously. Also why is it a fine and not a sporting penalty like a grid demotion for the next race?
    The incident today was just being far too gung-ho on tyres he had’t got a handle on yet. I think some people will be upset by Perez’ comments in his interviews after the incident, but I think he’s got every right to say what he did.

  11. Can’t wait to see Sergio’s reaction to this…
    Though, if this was Lewis, would he have escaped without a race ban by now?

    1. if this was Lewis, would he have escaped without a race ban by now?

      No. Whilst Maldonado did get off lightly, I don’t believe the stewards have it in for Hamilton. Most of his penalties were justified in my opinion.

    2. The diffrence being that Lewis has no record of intentionally driving into people to make a point…

  12. My english is not good.

    Can anyone tell me what “reprimand” is ??? Will you lose anything after receiving a reprimand? What kind of punishment it is?!

    1. Just a warning, the system was introduced last year I think. Three reprimands and something bad happens (some kind of penalty I think).

      1. 5 place grid penalty.

        1. Schumacher was to easy punished(Senna incident), in comparance with every Maldonado’s incident.

    2. It’s not you English. For a driver like him a reprimand means NOTHINg. another serious misjudgment on his part is brushed off. Rotten.

  13. Arnt these monetry fines suppose to go into R&D for car safty?

    Ive got a better solution, get rid of the role-models who are too agressive behind a wheel

  14. Kobayashis penalty, €25,000 is a bit much. The €10,000 find would’ve reflect his incident more accurate.
    And with Maldonados incident, he should be given a find for how much the parts on the other damaged cars would cost + because Perez couldn’t continue he should receive constructors-points from Williams.

    These type of penalty ideas I’d like to see in the future.

    1. I disagree. Points should never be awarded because of an incident. Let us look at last race in Valencia as an example. Let us assume that, before the safety car, Vettel went to lap Vergne, who shoved Vettel into the wall. Grosjean, trying to avoid this accident, ploughed into the wall also. Hamilton then took the lead and, because he was able to look after his tyres, won the race. A little farfetched, but possible. With your penalty system, Vergne’s points would be handed to Vettel and Grosjean – who both would have retired a few laps down the line anyway.
      Whos to say Perez would not have crashed out of his own accord, or had a mechanical failure?

  15. Not a problem – Maldonado’s government/sponsors will cover that. The ‘punishment’ is no deterrent, and won’t motivate a much needed change in his approach.

  16. I think they should give him a race ban – at first. This incident alone wouldn’t be that bad, but he has constantly caused crashes and – what I think is even worse – doesn’t seem to mind. The fines in general are ridicilous, what is 10,000 pounds to a Formula1 driver, especially if he is funded by Hugo Chavez?

    It’s not right if other drivers start driving more carefully against Maldonado only because he most certainly ruins their races if they try to pass or defend against him.

  17. €10K FINE IS AN ABSOLUTE JOKE

  18. HATS OF TO THE STEWARDS/FIA/WHOEVER MAKES THAT PENALTY DECISION.

    LET US GIVE YOU TONS OF APPLAUSE

  19. I agree with the fine and the reprimand for Pastor, judging that incident on its own merits. And that’s coming from a Sauber fan.

    I do still believe that he deserved a ban for the Perez road-rage incident in Monaco, but that’s in the past now. If he makes another stupid move, that’s when he really SHOULD get a sever punishment. It won’t happen though.

  20. I don’t understand these fines at all. Maldonado took someone out of the race and gets fined 10k. Kobayashi hits some of his pit crew and gets fined 25k.

    What are the lessons they want these two drivers to learn? “Don’t take out other drivers”, fair enough. “Be careful in the pit lane”, also fair enough.

    But I’m pretty sure Kobayashi will be a bit more careful in the future regardless of being fined, because let’s face it, he doesn’t want to hit his own crew or anyone else in the legs.

    On the other hand, it doesn’t seem like Maldonado is particularly quick on the pickup when it comes to driving, to the point where now they aren’t giving him normal racing penalties any more but are resorting to monetary punishment. The levels of the penalties handed out just seems a bit counter intuitive to me and it has to be said, it wouldn’t have been obvious if they hadn’t been handed out in the same weekend.

  21. cash penalties are pointless. it should be something will actually make him think twice before going into Rogue-mode. Maybe a black flag on the track the next time.

  22. Frank’s International Assistance? Williams needs his driver and sponsoring, no?

    Ah silly me, drawn into conspiracy thinking by a FIA decision… While I think they’re just incompetent and inconsistent.

  23. Seems appropriate enough to me. Sure Maldonado has been erratic in the past but today I believe he just made a mistake that cost himself and happened to include Perez in that. It doesn’t even constitute an avoidable accident as Maldonado’s problems started before he hit Perez.

    You could argue that Kobayashi was more careless as he was going at probably one third of the speed of Maldonado and floored 3 guys not in strict race conditions.

  24. Why would even stewards punish Kobayashi for a mistake normally NOBODY intends to make. A position drop he suffered because of that mistake is enough of a penalty for him. That’s like punishing a sprint contestant because he tripped.

  25. A fine is shocking, it’s not like his government sponsorship won’t find 10,000 down the back of the couch.

  26. And Jake Humphrey escapes from paying a fine…

  27. Seems like FIA survives on PDVSA!

  28. Maldonado should loose his licence! It’s not just this race or the last it’s been going on for too long now, can I remind you all of the ramming Hamilton incident. Maybe the FIA (Ferrari international assistance ) will finally give him a suitable punishment once he takes out alonso or massa, let’s just hope that happens before he kills someone!

  29. Its a bit sad for Kobi as he obviously did not do it intentionally.

  30. I wonder if the driver was Lewis Hamilton instead of Pastor Maldonado, what would have been the penalty?

    Remember all the penalties Lewis Hamilton has had received during his early years of F1 !! Maldonado is one lucky guy.

  31. I like the new trend of fines. Unless a driver has done something clearly malicious, or there’s some obvious intent, then the FIA shouldn’t be muddling with drive-thrus etc. Maldonado lost the rear, accidents happen. He should have had better car control, but you know what he’s been fined appropriately and let’s just move on.

  32. The longer this goes on with MAL with no serious punishment the more difficult it’s going to get to penalise him in a manner that properly addresses the way his driving his sub-standard; not just to punish MAL but to set a clear precedent to all drivers.

    Personally, I’m not sure today’s incident alone necessarily warranted a grid penalty or worse but clearly his driving and attitude to incidents is such that he needs to be shown how not to act.

    One could argue that HAM was just as bad last year and should have been similarly penalised but He not only acknowledged his errors (at least one some occasions) but appears to have learned his lesson this year.

    Personally, as bad as anything this year, what MAL did in Spa in 2011 was a disgrace and he should have been much more heavily punished – after all MSC was disqualified from the 1997 champiosnhip for one move when at least the championship was at stake there. We already have a percent for the type of sanction that could be applied for just one incident but in MAL’s case the number of incidents is rising.

    Where do Williams go from here – their hands could well be tied by MAL’s sponsorship money they clearly depend on so can we really see the team dealing with this effectively? The FIA must act swiftly and appropriately in my opinion before other drivers’ races are ruined and, much worse, someone is hurt by driving of MAL’s standard since he joined F1. Again, the point is not just punish MAL but to set a clear precedent to the rest of the field.

  33. The problem with Maldonado’s driving style is that he is not playing it fair. He would rather be out of the race than let someone else get by or he will demand an overtake so hard that he would rather crash than fail and try again.

    Can you imagine Maldonado instead of Schumacher in that infamous blocking in 2010? Schumacher left a window and Barichelo got through, it probably scared the heck out of him but he got through! What do you think Maldonado would have done..?

    1. Or Rosberg?

  34. ‘Collision at BROOKLANDS?’ Which race are YOU writing about?

    1. Today’s. Maldonado and Perez collided at Brooklands corner.

  35. I think this could mark the beginning of the end of Kobayashi’s F1 career. After such an impressive start to it and quite promising first races he has been fading more and more. He’s been generally weaker than his teammate Perez (whose performance is also often far from perfect) and now this is his 2nd penalty in as many races, caused by a rookielike error.

    Talking about Maldonado, this was neither a deliberate, nor a particularly dangerous accident but it obviously was his fault and he just makes mistakes much too often. Even though I think his presence in F1 is generally good for the sport, he must be banned for one or two races if something similar again happens at Hockenheimring.

  36. Clearly, Maldonado is an impetuous driver. For me, his aggression is too far over the line and untempered by any finesse. I’m not a fan (though I’m prepared to be converted should he mature). Having said that, you have to judge each incident on its merits. The collision with Perez seems a straightforward racing incident. Perez attempted the pass on the outside of the curve; Maldonado gave him enough room, but on cool tires and carrying a little too much speed into the corner, slid. (Last time, in contrast, he speared into Hamilton from outside the track.)

    The stewards’ decision puzzles me. I don’t think he was at fault so don’t think he should have received a penalty at all, but I certainly don’t see the logic of a (derisory) cash fine for an on-track incident.

    1. David,
      I disagree, I don’t think Maldonado left ANY room for Perez or any other driver to pass him. I have also reviewed the replay several times and I just don’t see where in the world Maldonado gave room on that corner.
      I have posted an image to help make my point.

      While looking at the image, see where Maldonado’s front tires are pointing to at the moment of impact, clearly not turning left.
      Also, if you look at this video ( I didn’t upload it, found it on YouTube) pay attention to mark 0:21″ onwards, I just don’t see where it was a “racing incident”.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQlEJPSa9dg

      Respectfully,
      Javier.

  37. While I don’t think it was Maldonado’s fault, I have to say that the FIA are handling these incidents the wrong way. Money is not going to deter most drivers, particularly not one thats as loaded as Pastor is. The only way I think that the drivers will learn is to give penalties that directly affect the driver during a race. Grid Penalties, race bans, disqualifications, thats what will teach a driver he’s in the wrong. You can hurt a driver’s on track performance a lot more than you can his Pocket, but the FIA don’t seem to realize that :/

  38. I think that should a fine be impised, it should be meaningful, and should come straight out of the drivers salary.
    I reckon that the least a driver earns in a season nowadays is about £150,000 or so?
    Therefore, if they got a percentage dock in accordance with the severity of the incident that is caused by them.
    For example:
    Minor incident: 5% get paid to FiA
    Major incident: 15% gets paid to FiA
    Downright ridiculous incident: 30% gets paid to FiA

    These funds can then be distributed amongst charities, and put into the R7D for the FiA for safety etc.

    Good idea?

    1. (the percentage would be taken off the base salary, excluding bonuses)

  39. Initially I did not think that Maldonado had done too much wrong in this incident. But after a couple of replays I could see that he lost the backend. So why, given such a minor mistake, would it deem a reprimand and fine from the stewards? Why not class it as a racing incident?
    Well, I can only assume that they looked at his previous laps for entry speed and angle into the same corner and concluded that he was being far too agressive and the resultant action was inevitable. Maybe because it ruined another drivers race and thus they wanted to acknowledge that this is not an acceptable driving standard for F1.
    It seems the stewards are trying to enforce safety through fines on every driver mistake. Or maybe they are just trying to log everything that Maldonado does, looking for an excuse to suspend him?
    Racing will always have racing incidents. Next thing they’ll be handing out $500 fines for re-raking the gravel traps.

    1. This is exactly where we heading, and driver are smart about it. They will cry out loud to get it their way.

      This behaviour usually gets slammed early in karting, while boys are being boys. But now we have divas.

      It’s like soccer and diving, sad really.

  40. I’m not a fan of fining drivers for penalties, these guys are on such big salaries it is not likely to bother them. A drive through would have been suffice for Kobayashi. As for Maldonado, he has been at fault in collisions in two consecutive races so his punishment should reflect this by being more severe than his Valencia time penalty, a grid drop at Hockenheimring would have been just, in my opinion.

  41. The fine and reprimand for Maldonado would seem appropriate IF he didn’t have such a long history of causing avoidable incidents. Looking at the replay, he drove into the corner far too aggressively, and would’ve spun off into the grass if Perez hadn’t been there. Of course, I suppose there’s always the possibility that a grid drop for Germany might be coming later.

    With Kamui, the 25000 euro fine seems a bit excessive. It didn’t affect anyone else’s race, he was apologetic about it afterwards, and because I don’t believe it was caused by recklessness, I doubt it would happen again.

  42. I’m sorry, how much longer are they going to let Maldonado get away with stuff like this. It’s incredible how he’s not been punished properly (face it, his fine will be paid by his government) for everything he’s done in the past two years.

    And what double standards, too! In Valencia, Kobayashi (rightly) got a 5-place penalty for being over-ambitious, and Vergne (harshly) got a 10-place penalty for being careless. Yet Maldonado mindlessly takes out another driver and is hardly punished at all. Come on stewards, lighten up!

  43. We wouldn’t be having this discussion regarding Maldonado if he’d had the common sense to life off of the gas when he lost the car to the inside of the corner instead of powering back onto the track and into Perez again. Stupid, Pastor, stupid.

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