Pastor Maldonado described his European Grnad Prix as an ‘unlucky race’ after he collided with Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap, denying himself of a podium finish.
Instead, the Venezuelan limped round with a broken front wing to finish tenth, but was then given a 20-second penalty for causing the collision with Hamilton which ensure he leaves Spain pointless.
Bruno Senna inherited tenth place after his team-mate’s penalty, but was also disappointed with his afternoon.
“It was an unlucky race for us as we were looking strong for a podium finish,” said Maldonado, reflecting on his afternoon. “We were struggling at the beginning of the race but at the end I passed Lewis (Hamilton) and then he came back across. I jumped across the kerb but there was nothing I could do and we made contact. I was on a great lap after a great race. The car was feeling good and we had good pace.”
Senna had a collision with Kobayashi early in the race, and was given a harsh drive-through penalty for what looked like a racing incident.
“I feel quite disappointed with today as we had good pace and the right strategy,” added Senna. “It would have been difficult but it was working for us. However, after losing time with the puncture and then receiving the drive-through penalty it would have been difficult to get into the points even in a race like today. We got lucky with the timing of the safety car but on a positive note we had good tyre management and so we were looking competitive. Now we need to put it behind us and see it as a lesson learned.”
Chief Operations Engineer Mark Gillan conceded that the team should have done better than the one point that they scored today, but is hopeful that they can bounce back at their home race.
“It was a very eventful race from which we should have secured a decent haul of points, so it is clearly disappointing to come away with a single point,” said Gillan. “As a team we will thoroughly review the weekend, regroup and aim to come back stronger at Silverstone.“
