Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsLotus F1

Maldonado questions reaction to Alonso crash

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Pastor Maldonado says "it would've been big news" if he had hit Fernando Alonso at the start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Alonso squeezed Felipe Nasr slightly at the start of the race, leading to light contact which saw the McLaren driver out-brake himself in to Turn 1. With Maldonado on the outside of the corner, Alonso took out the Lotus, sending both cars sliding off track.

While Alonso was able to continue after pitting for a new front wing, Maldonado's race was over due to suspension damage and he questioned the reaction to the McLaren driver's error.

“It’s sad to end the race in the first corner because we were looking good for the race," Maldonado said. "We had a good strategy to go with our better race pace, but anyway this is racing and it can happen.

"I didn’t see the contact I just felt it in the back of the car from Fernando. I tried to restart but then I saw the suspension damage. Imagine if that incident had been the other way round, it would’ve been big news then!”

Alonso was given a drive-through penalty in the race for the incident, while also picking up two penalty points.

REPORT: Rosberg takes third win in a row to end season

AS IT HAPPENED: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.