Wildly unpredictable, a crash junkie, madly inconsistent, but at times exhilaratingly quick – we’ve learned a lot about Pastor Maldonado over the past few months. And, if the hot-headed Venezuelan is smart, he won’t let his rivals forget any of these traits in a hurry.
Like it or not, Maldonado’s reputation is more renowned for crashing into his rivals than being the hero who secured Williams’s first win after eight dark years. Consecutive collisions with Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez have seen Maldonado labeled “crazy” by the Mexican. Put simply, now Maldonado has to embrace his reputation while others live in fear of what he’ll do next.
Some members of the paddock had suggested that at Valencia, Hamilton was naive to race wheel-to-wheel with a driver perfectly prepared to put a foot out of line, especially with the Brit desperate to join the fight for the Championship. Following his smash with Perez at Silverstone, the Sauber starlet even admitted that other drivers have voiced their fear that Maldonado is fighting unfairly in on-track battles.
Certainly the Venezuelan has form. A quiet debut season in an uncompetitive car largely kept him out of trouble, before a stupid swipe at Hamilton after the McLaren driver had bumped him in qualifying at Spa. Arguably Maldonado should have been banned for the move, considered at best a rash retaliation – and at worst an attack with a 190mph weapon capable of inflicting serious damage. Similar idiocy followed at Monaco in 2012, needlessly nudging Perez in practice after complaining of being held up. A 10-place grid drop was imposed before a similarly unnecessary smash with Pedro de la Rosa’s HRT put him straight into retirement.
His highest-profile assault – taking out Hamilton as the pair raced for the final spot podium at Valencia, saw universal condemnation. With Maldonado running out of space on the road, he chose to ram Hamilton instead of accepting that space for the move had dried up, with further chances existing down the road as the Brit struggled on heavily grained tyres.
With a growing list of wrongdoing, and of points being thrown away along with the wreckage of his car, many have called for the Williams number one to calm down. But yet, who would want to race a driver with a habit of turning cars into a scrapheap faster than you can say ‘challenge’?
If Maldonado’s misdemeanours had occurred earlier in the year, would Fernando Alonso have been prepared to race him neck-and-neck off the line at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix? There are now five bona fide World Championship contenders, and when the Venezuelan enters their mirrors not one will want the prospect of a possible collision ruining their chances. Points, podiums, and maybe even another win will be made all the easier by the fear Maldonado’s antics have rightly put into his competitors’ heads.
But should he make an effort to become the smarter Bruce Banner, rather than the out of control Hulk? Frankly, right now there is no real need. So long as the stupid tangles come to an end, then there is no need for Maldonado to make sure his name is more associated with that of an angelic pastor – a title reserved for leaders of Christian congregations. So long as his inner devil avoids the rash of collisions that have blighted the first half of his season, a slew of points should follow later in 2012. And for all his shortcomings, the Hulk was always incredible.
Additionally, Maldonado’s seat in F1 was safe when he was the worst-performing driver in the team’s history – thanks in no small part to the rumoured £29.4m in sponsorship he brings to the table each year. A promotion to one of the top teams appears unlikely with the likes of Paul di Resta and Perez waiting in the wings, but a few top performances could certainly put him in the public eye. Perhaps then he could begin work on taming his chronic inconsistency.
And while taming his approach may make sense, it is worth noting that even when the lights go out, moths are still attracted to the heat of the flame. Whether he could tame his erratic driving style is another article altogether.
He may be wild, but Maldonado is also a fantastic qualifier and a race winner. The Williams car has shown itself to be competitive, and as long as he embraces the fear, others will surely cower behind it. Who knows, perhaps keeping his aggressive approach is the easiest way to claim that second win, and with it, a bit of hard-earned respect from a sceptical Formula One paddock.
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Michael Andretti Keith Andrews Elio de Angelis Marco Apicella M·rio de Ara˙jo Cabral
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