Maldonado’s got to be the most unpopular driver amongst his peers since… who, I wonder? I remember Webber damning MAL’s victory in Barcelona with very faint praise if not outright derision in Monaco. I’ll admit I thought the Valencia crash was more Hamilton trying too hard to hold a position that was already lost, which was also the Speed TV at-the-moment consensus.
Was stuck in a house with a single TV with other people watching Wimbledon on Sunday and only got to see the final 10 laps or so, luckily they were the best laps of the race.
I wanted to say Yuji Ide, who got his license revoked by the FIA after four races in 2006, but that’s a little harsh to Pastor. Don’t think Scott Speed was well-liked either, and his track record of being disliked followed him NASCAR too.
I recall Maldonado deliberately punting Hamilton off the track during the cooldown lap after qualifying in Spa last year. I don’t think Vettel has done anything remotely like that.
Didn’t a few drivers complain about Sato being a dangerous driver a few years back?
I think there is a big difference between most aggressive drivers and Maldonado though. I love aggressive drivers but he uses his car as a weapon and if he ever hurts anyone it will be hard to pretend he didn’t mean it.
The Silverstone incident was the third time this season in which Maldonado was handed a penalty for a driving incident. First there was the grid penalty in Monaco after he appeared to drive into Sergio Perez, the the time penalty after the Valencia race (which, iirc, pushed him to 12th) and now this, involving Perez again.
This follows last year’s Spa incident where he collided with Lewis Hamilton.
Can’t see the logic in that, I called it as his fault immediately. At no point was the racing line or race position lost. Hamilton held it all the way through the corner perfectly legally, Maldonado had to yield or go off track. He chose the latter and decided to then leap over the kerb and T-bone Hamilton. Probably the easiest decision the stewards have had all year.
Now Hamilton did have shot tyres and had Maldonado been a little more mature I’m sure he could’ve taken him elsewhere. He needs to learn, all the great young drivers did but he’s hardly “young” anymore and he is gaining a rather unwelcome reputation.
I agree, I love aggression in a driver but it Maldonado appears to be a little misplaced.
The current greats such as Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton are all “aggressive” but none seem particularly vindictive on the track. All of them were fairly fiery in their early years but have learned from that.
Yes, that was an interesting call - if the rules say you cannot pass with all 4 wheels off the track, hard to argue against it. On the other hand, Vettel clearly took the sensible option, and the rules forcing him to give the place back when he clearly had a much better drive out of the corner seems a bit silly. On balance though, that better drive may have been due to the untenable line that he took, so I do agree with the penalty.
I think the race-ban was a little harsh on Grosjean. Sure, he caused the big accident at Spa, but his actions didn’t seem to be as egregious as say, Maldonaldo earlier this season. His moving over on Hamilton was pretty stupid, but Hamilton didn’t hit him till he got sideways on the grass. I figure it was a spectacular crash, so the stewards needed a spectacular reaction.
McLaren looks strong after the break. Should be a fun race tomorrow.
Hey! I’m in the Top 50 overall in the Pirelli GP Challenge! Well,* I’m *impressed…
Like I said, it looks reaaly impressive when you fly over it. Which I do about once a month. All that’s left to do is pretty much window dressing. The only probable bad thing will be getting access to the track, but I’m planning on hiring a helicopter that day :eek:
Ah, I thought you were referring to the videos. I thought it looked rather boring - visually boring, that is - on the simulated drive-around. If they don’t put stuff around the track it could easily become another Bahrain. I hope they’re going to plant a large number of those huge cacti. We’ll have to wait for the race itself to see how competitive it actually is.
Don’t think Scott Speed was well-liked either, and his track record of being disliked followed him NASCAR too.