Lewis Hamilton should have known better before going wheel-to-wheel with Pastor Maldonado in the dying stages of Sunday's European grand prix. That is the view of the McLaren driver's boss Martin Whitmarsh, after the British team's top 2012 driver fell 23 points off the championship lead at Valencia.
He crashed almost within sight of the chequered flag in a dice with Williams' Pastor Maldonado, and it was the Venezuelan who was penalised for the crash by the FIA. And while Maldonado hit out at his rival afterwards, Hamilton's measured reaction was an obvious case of resisting the urge "to throw a tantrum," according to Times journalist Kevin Eason.
In the official post-race McLaren statement, Hamilton said losing the title lead to Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber is "not the end of the world". But "With hindsight you have to say if you are dealing with someone like that (Maldonado) then you maybe have to take a different approach," boss Whitmarsh is quoted by British newspapers.
Triple world champion Niki Lauda, meanwhile, said in Kleine Zeitung newspaper that he hopes the top drivers are soon once again dominating F1. "The winner in Barcelona? Who was that? Maldonado, but no one remembers. Seven winners from seven races, which for you journalists is a hoot. But now I would like to return to some normality. The people who watch formula one need their heroes," the Austrian legend said. (GMM)
Hamilton should have avoided Maldonado crash - boss
- Published on 26 Jun 2012 09:52
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- By: Rob Veenstra
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Driver profile
- Team Aston Martin
- Points 628
- Podiums 9
- Grand Prix 195
- Country Spain
- Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (44)
- Place of b. Oviedo, Spain
- Weight 68 kg
- Length 1.71 m
- 187,389 comments on Aston Martin
78 members have this team as their favourite
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- Team name Williams
- Base Grove, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
- Jacques Villeneuve 1
- Logan Sargeant 2
- Ayrton Senna 2
- Jacques Villeneuve 3
- Nicholas Latifi 6
- Jacques Villeneuve 6
- Nico Rosberg 7
- Nico Hülkenberg 10
- Nico Rosberg 10
- Jenson Button 10
- Pastor Maldonado 12
- Pastor Maldonado 16
- Nico Rosberg 16
- Nico Rosberg 16
- Valtteri Bottas 17
- Lance Stroll 18
- Pastor Maldonado 18
- Felipe Massa 19
- Alexander Albon 23
- Sergey Sirotkin 35
- Nyck de Vries 45
- Carlos Sainz jr 55
- George Russell 63
- Valtteri Bottas 77
- Robert Kubica 88
- 161,111 comments on Williams
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