09/07/2012
NEWS STORY
In the wake of his second successive controversial race incident, Pastor Maldonado is adamant that he has no intention of changing his approach to racing.
While Lewis Hamilton refused to be drawn further on the incident which ended his European Grand Prix, Sergio Perez was only too happy to share his thoughts on Williams bad-boy Maldonado.
Speaking after the incident which brought his Silverstone outing to an immediate close, the Mexican called on the FIA to take action against his Venezuelan rival.
"He's a very dangerous driver and he can hurt someone," the Sauber driver told the BBC moments after yesterday's collision.
Asked whether fellow drivers are concerned by Maldonado's tactics, Perez was in no doubt. "Yeah everybody has concerns about him. He is a driver who does not respect others. Doesn't he know we are risking our lives? He's just a stupid driver.
"Pastor is a driver who doesn't respect other drivers," he continued. "It's a matter of fact. He should have given me enough space not to crash but he tried to push me all the way to the outside. I don't understand the way he is driving. I hope the stewards can do something because the last three or four races he has done something to someone.
"It's not the first time he has damaged my weekend. He did the same with Lewis Hamilton in Valencia and they just gave him a drive-through which I think is not enough. He will never learn if they don't do something."
Following the 20s time penalty in Spain which dropped him out of the points, Maldonado was handed a reprimand and 10,000 euro fine for his latest misdemeanour.
However, there is no contrition from the Williams driver. "I accept the penalty for the incident with Lewis, but I was a bit unlucky because I hit a kerb and had no traction at the front. It was also 1.5 laps from the end," he said of the Valencia crash, according to the Daily Telegraph.
"Yesterday was different," he insisted. "The race was just starting, I was on cold tyres, had no angle to turn and I lost the car. It is clear.
"I was even gentle with Kimi, giving him position," he added. "I drove carefully because the race is long and degradation is high. In previous races at the start of the year I was very clean, I had no problem. I was even fighting more because I was in the middle of the grid."
Courtesy of funding from the Venezuelan government, the state-owned PDVSA oil company sponsors Williams, Maldonado came to F1 with something of a reputation.
Despite coming to F1 as reigning GP2 champ in 2011, many remember, amongst others, the incident in the World Series by Renault Championship at Monaco in 2005; his failure to slow down at the scene of an accident and resultant serious injury to a marshal earning him a four-race ban in the series and a lifetime ban from races on the streets of the Principality. According to some reports it was only the intervention of his father, and his money, that saw the Monaco ban lifted.
Weeks after we remember the thirtieth anniversary of the death of the legendary Gilles Villeneuve, it should be remembered that the mercurial Canadian was regarded as one of the hardest racers in the history of the sport, but always fair, never dirty.