Maldonado set to get gearbox-change penalty for the Monaco Grand Prixquote:
Pastor Maldonado looks set to start the Monaco Grand Prix from the back of the grid, with his Williams team planning to change his gearbox before the race.
The Venezuelan, who won from pole position in Spain a fortnight ago, had been scheduled to start 19th on the grid due in part to a 10-place grid penalty he was given for causing a collision with Sergio Perez in final free practice.
But following examination of his car by Williams after qualifying, it was found that there was a problem with his gearbox - perhaps as the result of a crash in final practice – that means he will face a further five place drop.
Chief operations engineer Mark Gillan said: "The car had a lot of damage in it, to the point where we are having to change the gearbox in it as well.
"There was a significant amount of damage to the car, so the guys did a really good job to even get it out for qualifying."
Gillan admitted that the qualifying result for Monaco was a disappointment, on the back of its success in Barcelona.
"I've no doubt we could have done P4 or P5, with a decent clean run, or maybe even higher. But Pastor did not match his Q2 time and his time in Q3 was set with old super soft tyres, so there was definitely quite a bit more to be had.
"It's disappointing. But it is still good that we are disappointed because the pace is definitely there."
Pastor Maldonado criticises inconsistent penalties after Perez incident in Monacoquote:
Pastor Maldonado has criticised the inconsistency of punishments doled out by the stewards at grand prix meetings following his 10-place grid penalty for colliding with Sergio Perez during final practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Spanish Grand Prix winner insists that his contact with the Sauber driver on the run in to Portier was not deliberate, despite appearing to swipe in front of the Mexican, and was in fact the result of a mistake on cold tyres.
With no apparent damage to either car, Maldonado questioned whether his punishment should have been bigger than that of Michael Schumacher's in Spain, where the Mercedes driver crashed into Bruno Senna, causing both cars to retire from the grand prix.
"If you remember Schumacher in the last race, he damaged the race of Bruno, my team-mate," said Maldonado. "And he got only five places.
"I did nearly nothing, it was just a little touch, because of the condition of the track... it is a very narrow track, I lost the car, maybe I could have backed off a little bit but I was trying to not get traffic on my best lap.
"So it's a difficult to say. It's very inconsistent, but that's the reality."
Maldonado said the accident occurred because he lost rear grip on cold tyres, on his out-lap on the super softs, and the car swerved when the grip returned.
"I was trying overtake him and I lost the car," he said. "Maybe I was too optimistic on the throttle on cold tyres, because it was my first lap with a new option and I was trying to recover the car, it got too much grip and I touched his front left wheel. That's it.
"It's disappointing for the penalty because it was quite big for what happened but this is the rules."
McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton write to injured fanquote:
Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have written get well messages to a McLaren fan who was badly injured in a fall from a grandstand ahead of opening practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.
The duo acted after hearing that Lawrence Relph, a 49-year-old from Margate in Kent, broke his back and left leg when he fell following the collapse of the grandstand at Tabac. Another spectator avoided injury after clinging on before being rescued.
The two drivers said they were saddened by the accident, which is why they decided to write him personal letters.
Button said: "It was pretty serious. We both wrote him a letter saying the obvious - get well soon, and sorry to hear about your incident. We thanked him for his support because he is a massive fan of the team, and us two.
"It is a very difficult time for him. He came here to watch F1 and he hasn't seen anything as he has been in hospital. We also gave him a gift which is a limited edition McLaren book, so hopefully he can watch us on television in hospital."
Hamilton added: "We would not be here without our fans. They mean a huge amount to me and the team, and any follower of the team – we are grateful for the support we get.
"When we heard about it, we were quite saddened by it and so just sending him a letter was the least we could do. We hope he has a speedy recovery. It is tragic but we hope he will get better."
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