29/05/2011
NEWS STORY
Lewis Hamilton has been handed a 20s penalty following his collision with Pastor Maldonado in today's Monaco GP
Earlier in the race the Englishman had served a drive-through penalty following a clash with Felipe Massa, the McLaren driver claiming that the Brazilian had deliberately turned in on him in the Mirabeau Hairpin.
However, a collision with Pastor Maldonado following the race re-start always looked likely to add to Hamilton's woes after a weekend that started well then gradually fell apart.
Sure enough, the stewards handed Hamilton a 20s fine and though this doesn't effect his final placing - he finished sixth - he is far from happy.
Speaking to the BBC after the race the McLaren driver was clearly angry and frustrated. "It's an absolute frickin' joke," he said. "I've been to see the stewards five times out of six this season."
Asked why he thought this might be the case he joked: "Maybe it's because I'm black... that's what Ali G says.
"Massa held me up in qualifying, I got the penalty," he continued, referring to an incident during yesterday's qualifying session in which he subsequently had his time deleted for jumping the chicane. "Then he turned in to me during the race, I got the penalty. These drivers are ridiculous. It's stupid."
Referring to the incident that earned him the time penalty, he said: "I went up the inside of Maldonado and you can see on the (TV) screen that he turned in a good car length too early to stop me overtaking him and he crashed into me. It's just ridiculous. These drivers are absolutely frickin' ridiculous. Just stupid."
The 2008 champion admitted that he felt victimised, claiming that he was trying to put on a show for the fans by overtaking rivals as opposed to settling for position.
"People want to see racing," he said. "But you get done trying to put on a show, trying to make a move. Fair play, if I feel I've gone too late I'd hold my hand up to admit I've caused an incident. But it's not the case. I'll just try and keep my mouth shut and try to enjoy the rest of the season.
"It's not too late but it's not looking great," he added, referring to the title fight. "I gave my all today and the team did a great job. It's character-testing, whether it's right or wrong. I'm going to go chill now, do some jet-skiiing, and try to stay out of trouble."
PR-wise it has not been a good week for Hamilton, who last week accused Michael Schumacher of holding him up during the Spanish GP, thereby favouring Vettel, while accusing the Toro Rosso drivers of the self same thing. Then, yesterday, he turned on his team for its strategic call which saw him only complete one run in qualifying.
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi and Force India's Adrian Sutil who were also investigated by the stewards were subsequently given reprimands for incidents during the race.