Published: Today at 00:05
LEWIS HAMILTON was left seething after being wiped out at yesterday’s European GP by Pastor Maldonado.
Related Stories
The McLaren ace was in third and looking to cement his place on the podium when he was T-boned by the Williams driver with less than two laps to go.
The 27-year-old was planted into the crash barrier and Fernando Alonso went on to win with Kimi Raikkonen second and Michael Schumacher third.
Hamilton reacted furiously by throwing his steering-wheel when he climbed out of his car.
He later cooled down but admitted the crash has delivered a blow to his chances of winning the drivers’ championship.
He added: “I don’t really know what happened. I went into the corner and I didn’t come out.
“It happened so fast. All I remember is sitting in the wall with only two laps to go. I had a bad day at the office Fin Valencia but it does change the championship a lot. We lost a lot of points.”
Maldonado was hauled before the race stewards, who later punished him with a drive-through penalty, which cost him his 10th place and a point.
But the Venezuelan has snapped back and accused Hamilton of driving too aggressively and pointed to his previous controversial moves.
Maldonado, who had a run-in with Hamilton at Monaco last year, added: “Lewis did not leave me any space. He tried to push me off the track.
“When he was pushing me the floor of my car caught the kerb and that is what caused me to jump into him.
“It is not the first time this has happened with Lewis. I think he could have avoided the contact. He was around a second slower and there were only a few laps to go.”
The clash was just one talking point in this thrilling race where Alonso was able to match the achievements of his namesake, Xabi, who scored twice for Spain against France in Euro 2012 the previous night.
He became the first man to win two races this year.
And he admitted that this, his 29th victory, was the best of his career after starting in 11th place on the grid.
He said: “Winning a home Grand Prix is something unique, a special feeling. With the Euros, I’m feeling very proud to be a Spanish sportsman at the moment.
“Winning this race is probably the best victory I ever felt in terms of emotions. Nothing compares to this one.”
Schumacher snatched his first podium since returning to the sport 2½ years ago.
He said: “I can’t believe that! It’s something I didn’t really expect.”
Jenson Button, who finished eighth, bemoaned the McLaren team’s bad luck.
He said: “It’s not a good result but I had fun and at times the car felt good. I don’t think anything went in our favour.”
No comments:
Post a Comment