Maldonado: I must stop making mistakes

19/07/2012

Mat Coch writes:

Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez are still at loggerheads two weeks after the British Grand Prix. Early in the race the pair made contact as Perez attempted to pass the Williams driver around the outside of Brooklands, only for Maldonado to lose control. The pair touched, ending Perez's race on the spot and prompting the furious Mexican to label the Williams driver as "stupid".

While tempers have calmed in the two weeks that have passed Perez stands by his comments, if at least conceding they were perhaps a little crass. "I still share my opinion from last time. It was very unnecessary move, and that's it," he stated, though admitting that he was "very angry at that moment and probably said things I would not like to have".

"I think it's just one of those things," explained Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn. "It was a temperamental, emotional reaction.

"At that very moment you are extremely upset but then it all sets and you get on with it," she added. "We understand and I think everybody does that."

While agreeing that the incident was unnecessary, Maldonado believes it's simply part of racing. "We made a couple of mistakes but I think that if you see the history of the other drivers they've done the same in the past," he said.

"I understand his point," he admits of Perez's frustration. "He was angry; he lost his race. But on the other side I lost my race as well. It's difficult. I'm not here to do polemics, I'm here to race. I'm here to win, to fight at the top and to work hard with the team. It doesn't matter what the other drivers have told you, I'm concentrated on my job."

Maldonado was handed a reprimand for the incident in Silverstone, his second of the year after an incident during practice in Monaco (also with Perez). Should the Venezuelan receive a third the penalty would be more severe, likely a ten place grid penalty.

However there are those in the paddock who believe a grid or financial penalty are insufficient, suggesting that having Maldonado sit out a race or two may help tame his wild side. However, at least the 27-year-old has admitted he needs to concentrate on consistency and ironing out the mistakes he's been making. It's not an admission of fault, something lacking from any of the incidents he's been involved in, but it's a start.

"We're not being very consistent this year," he admits. "It's racing, this could happen. It happened in the past to other drivers, we just need to be focussed, consistent for this second part of the season."

It's a point on which Perez can agree. "He should not change his style but think why he's getting so many reprimands, why so many penalties," he says. "In the end it's up to him to decide. If he wants to keep it that way then I respect that.

"He will change because he's a very intelligent driver and a good driver. That's why he's in Formula One and he probably has realised that he has given away too many points because of his aggression."

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