A favourite for victory this weekend, Pastor Maldonado is reportedly lucky to be gearing up to race in the Principality at all.

Bild newspaper recalls that the Venezuelan, who defied his ‘pay driver’ critics by winning for Williams in Spain two weeks ago, was actually banned after an horror incident on the streets of Monte Carlo seven years ago.

Racing in the Renault World Series in 2005, the then 25-year-old ignored yellow flags before striking and severely injuring a marshal.

Organisers of the Monaco grand prix reacted by banning Maldonado from the street circuit for life.

Germany’s Bild revealed that Maldonado’s wealthy father intervened, promising to pay for the marshal’s recovery and rehabilitation from a broken back.

That intervention saved Maldonado’s future formula one career, as no team would hire a regular driver that cannot participate in the sport’s most famous race.

Maldonado is therefore a favourite for victory this weekend, with his Williams now acknowledged as arguably the best in the entire field when it comes to slow-speed traction.

And in his four seasons of GP2 between 2007 and 2010, Maldonado finished on the podium each time, winning and achieving pole position twice. In 2006, he won in Formula Renault.

Last year, in qualifying for his first Monaco grand prix, he qualified his then struggling Williams in eighth place, comfortably ahead of Rubens Barrichello.

“He is very good at Monaco,” agreed Barrichello.

In the 2011 race, Maldonado was fighting for fifth when he crashed with Lewis Hamilton.

“If the last sector in Barcelona is the marker, then the Williams will be unbeatable in Monte Carlo,” Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport quotes Dr Helmut Marko as saying.

The breakthrough success in Barcelona has piqued the interest of Maldonado’s native Venezuela, having not had an F1 points scorer since the ignominious Johnny Cecotto in 1983.

“My country will be following every second of the next race,” Maldonado is quoted by O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

“I love street circuits, this one in particular. My style of driving fits perfectly with Monaco. I am ready to get another great result.”

Sebastian Vettel – 1st: “It was an interesting qualifying session; a new circuit and a new challenge – obviously I’m very happy to be on the front row. I don’t know if being on the left or the right side of the track (we are on the left), is really an advantage or not; there’s not one side that seems to be the clean side, as we tend to run down the middle. It was a good battle and after the first run it was very close, so I knew I had to do a little bit better on the second. We decided to only do one timed lap each time, it was still a bit slippery, but overall I’m very happy. Tomorrow it going to be a long race, we start starting the best possible position, so we’ll see what happens.”

Mark Webber – 3rd: “This new venue has been a good challenge for us. It was tricky to work out the right strategy for qualifying. The tyres weren’t easy for one timed lap, so we had to work out how to do the right strategy – lots of teams tried different styles to get the best lap time out of the car. The first sector was tricky to get right on one timed lap. I could have done better in the first sector on my first lap in Q3; I couldn’t complete my second, as there were yellow flags after Massa’s incident. Overall it’s a good job for the team, we’ve come to a new venue, prepared well and we’ve laid a good foundation for a very good race tomorrow.”

Christian Horner: “A great qualifying for the team to have established our 16th pole and a new record for the most poles secured by a team within a season. Also to have achieved a front row lock out after Lewis’ penalty of yesterday has put us in the best position to start tomorrow’s race. The dilemma was whether to do one or two laps, but in the end Sebastian managed to make two laps which were effectively good enough for pole. Mark running two laps on his first set of tyres in Q3 was the right strategy, so first and second on the grid is a great place to be starting the inaugural Indian Grand Prix at a circuit that has been a real challenge for the drivers and is a really exciting venue.”

(Renault) Cyril Dumont: “A wonderful pole position again for Sebastian at this first Indian Grand Prix; I’m pleased for him. I think we had the pace today to lock out the front row – but anyway, we will start first and second on the grid tomorrow. That’s the best place to start the race – we’ve clearly got the pace on low and high fuel, so it could be interesting tomorrow.”

 Mark Webber on Saturday said he does not want to be gifted victory in the Indian grand prix.
Given Lewis Hamilton’s grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags earlier this weekend, Australian Webber will start Sunday’s race alongside his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel.

But as Vettel has already wrapped up the drivers’ title, the German as well as team boss Christian Horner have been hinting at a ‘team orders’ switch so that Webber can jump up the points standings to second place.

Webber, however, is not keen.

“Nothing will be different,” he told reporters when asked about the likely race tactics for Sunday.

“There’s been a lot of talk from the team but no talk from me,” he added.

“I don’t want any positions off Sebastian.”

At the same time, boss Horner also toned down his hintings about Vettel moving over so that Webber can take maximum points for the remaining three races.

“The focus for us is to let the guys race. Mark doesn’t want to be gifted that second place,” he told BBC 1 television.

Heikki Kovalainen made the Grand Prix of Singapore at the end once more exciting and put out his blazing Lotus itself
The air seemed to be already out of the Grand Prix of Singapore, as Heikki Kovalainen in the penultimate round again caused a drama. Because after a light touch with the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Buemi, he was suddenly slow – and in the last sector ignited the back of his Lotus!

Kovalainen not turned off the box, but drove over the finish line. However, he was not here for an additional round for the final result was as suspected at first: “I wanted to with such a car will not go into the pit lane, because that would put many people Instead, I saw a fireman at the start and finish and stayed. there are, “he describes the exciting incident.
Curious: Kovalainen rose calmly from the car that was burning brightly in the rear, and still had the overview, to make themselves rich on the pit wall by a Williams mechanic with a fire extinguisher so that it could even lend a hand! “Something always looks dramatic,” he grins. “The car is a bit damaged, but at least no one was injured. That’s the main thing.”
Given that reasoning, it is unlikely that the race stewards will issue a penalty against him. Usually, it is well known, not allowed to drive on with an obviously badly damaged car – especially not when the pit exit would be located on the road. But Kovalainen reasoning makes sense, because it was so actually less risky.

By the way: through the smoke on the finish line and the yellow flags came Sebastian Vettel in the last round again threatening close to leader Fernando Alonso. Alonso, however, kept a cool head and saved his second victory in Singapore over the distance.

In the discussion of the Safetycarphase in Valencia and Lewis Hamilton happy Rennschicksal has now Felipe Massa on. The Ferrari driver also sees a need for action. For he does not understand that it could happen that Hamilton, despite his drive-through penalty he received for overtaking the safety car, was able to keep his second place while he himself kept to the rules and was passed to the rear.

Massa had the date on which the safety car after the accident by Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen went on the air, but also very unlucky. “At the time when the track was completely under yellow flags, we were already in the last corner. And when I saw the safety car sign, I was already out of the final corner and went out to the start-finish straight” , he describes in his blog on the Ferrari website. “I looked in the mirror and saw that most turned off behind me in the pit lane, as they had seen the sign before the last corner.”
“It was all about moments and we had the great misfortune that we had to spend a long time behind the safety car, as Sebastian Vettel was before the safety car, as it came onto the track and Lewis Hamilton decided to overtake it, though that a rule was broken, “Massa adds. Hamilton was then second, third and Fernando Alonso Massa fourth.
Hamilton was able to maintain his second place, as he held until his drive through penalty was enough time to get a head start to build up corresponding to the rear. Alonso and Massa were, however, as it should be, behind the safety car and were passed by the rear. They drove a lap behind the safety car and could only turn to the pits.

While the two Ferrari drivers completed a double stop, drove all the others, they were already on the box, past them. And also because Massa had to wait, was cleared to Alonso, he lost more time. “I’ve fallen back to 18th place and had pinned the whole race to the checkered flag in the transport,” quarrels of the Brazilians, who at the end of the 13th was.
“I do not want to talk in detail about what happened, because that makes no difference because our race was ruined,” said Massa, but said: “It must be what happened, but a closer look. For It is not normal that a person has committed a dangerous situation on the track a serious rule violations such as overtaking the safety car and is not punished for it practically. ”
“We need to talk about it together and do something to make it to such situations can not see a repeat,” he says. “The team told me that there will be next week a meeting of the Sport Working Group. This is good and a sign that the FIA takes on the matter.”

If that would have been Rennschicksal gracious to him, Massa would certainly be able to enter a top ranking. For with his F10 he was quite satisfied: “If I look at the performance of the car over the weekend look, I must say that the updates have brought in the aerodynamics and the revised exhaust system on the F10 is a good step forward. So that we can to fight with the front seats. Now it is important to continue to develop until the end of the season. “

The press round of Stefano Domenicali after the race began in Valencia because of the late decision of the stewards was later than usual, but very rewarding. For Ferrari had just made the website a controversial review online, in which the Grand Prix of Europe as a “scandal” was called.

Earlier, Fernando Alonso has indicated that he thought the race had been manipulated. But Ferrari back row: On the website you have not published the opinion of Ferrari, but the Ferrari fans around the world, Alonso had made his statement “in the heat of battle.” Team boss Domenicali attempted to clarify this point in discussion with media representatives from around the world.
Question: “Stefano, on the Ferrari website, the race today called scandal, Fernando said that it has been manipulated …”
Luca Colajanni (Ferrari spokesman): “The speech by the voice of the fans – you should have read the message carefully!”
Stefano Domenicali: “I am the official voice of Ferrari. Ask me, I then answer that.”
Technical progress made

Q: Can you explain why you are so angry today? ”
Domenicali: “Naturally we are very angry because we did not get the points we have in this race because of our performance really need to do. If I analyze this weekend even from the technical side, we have but one step forward, even if he is still not large enough to catch Red Bull. In the first round we saw that things were in the right direction. ”

“The frustration is so great because we made the right move, but still less points than in the most difficult race of the year. This is very frustrating. Do I have to say from the sporting angle that we had bad luck today. The only four cars on the home straight were when the safety car was on, were Vettel, Hamilton, Fernando and Felipe. Vettel stopped before the safety car, Hamilton had ignored the yellow flags and the yellow light, but we had a full lap behind the Safety- Car driving. In the meantime, took the field that was in the pits, back on us, so we fell behind when we came into the pits. The plan you can not. ”

“Before some decisions are made, you should be sure they are right and wrong. If we now know, however, that the date of a decision affects the race, then they must be taken quickly, otherwise the consequences of unfair have. Today, the Ferrari has affected quite badly, so we must make sure that something like this happen again. More I would say not really. also ran against a lot of cars still an investigation. That I think is not good. ”

Question is: “When the FIA driver got into the race management – today it was Heinz-Harald Frentzen – first of all were happy, but in the last race there were many contentious decisions. How do you comment that?”
Domenicali: “had the present situation to do with the driver Commissioner nothing, I think. They had indeed nothing to do with the fact that a driver knows that there is slowed down or this and that is in the cockpit. I think that was the day a normal thing for the Commissioners.
“But I want to say something else. First of all, I am very pleased that Mark Webber doing well, because that is the most important thing. In life, have possible priorities. Today he had a very tragic accident, so I am happy that He’s healthy. But the accident has clearly shown that the large performance difference between the cars can be very dangerous. We’re talking about for some months, but today we were fortunate that we have not seen play. As braked different and there are different lines driven. Furthermore, we need to think about. ”

Q: If the safety car not normally catch the leaders and all others to pass through? ”
Domenicali: “I know that the race management, the safety car rausschickt regardless of what happens on the track, if it is necessary. I think correctly. The cars should also be waved through to the leader as quickly as possible behind the safety car is. This as I understand it, they wanted to now the medical car to protect the safety car to prevent the cars rushing around the track. ”

Q: You just said something about the big speed difference and that is dangerous. If the by the adjustable rear wing does not get worse? ”
SD: I think we need to examine carefully. When the leader must not press the button and Hintermann already created a difference in speed. Today we have seen, this can lead to.

Q: Just to clarify again: On your website is a scandal of the speech. If you say that this is not the Ferrari’s opinion? ”
SD: You were here all the time. Did I say scandalous? ”
Only the opinion of the fans

Q: No. But it is on the Ferrari website. ”
Domenicali: “The text there is the opinion of all Tifosi against the world. But I am the official voice of Ferrari and I have never said that.”

Q: Fernando, says the race was manipulated. ”
Domenicali: “We need him to admit that he has said in the heat of the moment, but I can understand him, because the race was broke by factors that were beyond our control. That is why he said that.”

Q: Will you bring this matter to the FIA or discuss with the teams? ”
Domenicali: “We have submitted the topic already in the FIA. That is completely incorrect.”

Q: What does this mean? Could it even be a different race result?
SD: No. The outcome is certain, but we are concerned about the future. We want to talk about it, so something in the future can not happen. ”
Q: You had prior to this Grand Prix a PR day of shooting, on some team bosses have complained. Must be made clear what a day of shooting and what is a test? ”
Domenicali: “It is not my style, something the public unsubscribe, but if there is something to discuss, then I pick up the phone. That’s my style. The shooting day was clear. If people want to change the wording of the rule We have no problem with that. ”

Q: one hand, you walk the day of shooting on a very fine line when it comes to the limits of the rules to explore the other hand, the rules today against you … ”
Domenicali: “One can not even compare it. To day of shooting, we have the allowed 100 kilometers used to supply our customers, our network and our dealers with material. Under such conditions it is difficult to learn about the car . But as I said: If someone has a problem, he can talk to us, then we explain it. ”

Q: Let’s auspicious on a topic. Pat Fry moves from McLaren to you. Can you describe his area of responsibility?
Domenicali: “When we found out that he has been on the market, we immediately realized that he was a great technician with much experience. I know that he also had offers from other teams, but we saw this as a good opportunity to join our team. He works as vice-head of technology. This is a very important task, not only for this year, but especially for the future. ”

Q: Do you find it okay that the drivers who have violated the safety car rule were punished only with five seconds? ”
Domenicali: “The danger of today’s decision is, I think that one might be tempted in future to violate the rules against better knowledge, to have an advantage. This is dangerous.”

Note from the Editor: There were two titles for this piece, “Schumacher’s Karma catches up with him” or “Have FIA bungled with Schumacher penalty?” Either would have been appropriate, we chose the one we did because in the end it is perhaps more apt…

Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix was overshadowed by an incident involving old sparring partners Michael Schumacher, and Fernando Alonso.

Due to the spectacular crash between Karun Chandhok and Jarno Trulli at Rascasse corner, the Safety Car was called upon 3 laps from the end. The flash point came when the German veteran slid up the inside of Alonso at the final Anthony Noghes corner after the Safety Car had peeled into the pitlane for the last time.

The Formula One paddock now finds itself in the situation where Schumacher has been given a retrospective 20 second penalty and dropped to 12th position in the final classification. Fernando Alonso was reinstated to his 6th position, and we head to Turkey with the Spaniard still in touch with the seemingly untouchable Red Bull duo of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

However, the justification for this penalisation is hard to distinguish. It is true that Article 40.13 states: “If the race ends while the Safety Car is deployed, it will enter the pitlane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking”. The clarity of this rule is not in question.

There have been previous examples of this rule being enforced. The Australian Grand Prix of 2009 being one such example, where the Brawn cars of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello led the field across the line after the Safety Car had pitted following an accident between Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica. In this case, the job of the trackside marshals was to signal to the drivers that there was to be no overtaking and that they were to stay in formation. This was signified by the continued use of yellow flags and Safety Car boards at each marshal post until the Start/Finish line.

Fast forward a year and five races, and we find ourselves in a similar situation. What seems incomprehensible is that following the end of the Safety Car period, green flags were waved and a green light was shown on the overhead light gantry of the last corner. Such a contradiction in actions seems confusing to say the least.

Under FIA Sporting Regulations, a green flag signifies “that any previous danger has been attended to. The track is now clear, and drivers may proceed at racing speed and may again overtake”. Why was this signal given? The green flag completely contradicted Article 40.13, and Schumacher acted accordingly.

Based on principle alone, a driver that sees a green flag or a green light is perfectly entitled to proceed at racing speed and make an attempt at an overtaking manoevre. It is worth noting that the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg also attempted an overtake after Alonso slid on the kerbs of the final corner, but was unable to.

Such a baffling decision decreases the credibility of the FIA stewarding panel, which had proved itself to be more than capable with a string of sound decisions so far in 2010. The accusation that Damon Hill was central to the decision-making procedure does not work, as his responsibility was to ensure a fair conclusion to any racing incidents. This was a decision based on the law of the FIA.

Neither is the common misconception that the stewards could have put Schumacher back into 7th position, as under Article 16.3 of the Sporting Regulations, only three possible sanctions are legally allowed; a drive-through penalty, a grid drop for the following race, or a ten-second stop and go penalty.

It appears that Schumacher has been penalised for a communication mix-up, which is why Mercedes have attempted to appeal the decision.
Based on the precedent set by the Lewis Hamilton decision at Spa in 2008, time penalties cannot be appealed. The only conceivable outcome for Mercedes is that they can lodge a protest of the result to the FIA. A 2,000 Euro fee is attached to this and is the only option that resembles an appeal procedure in this instance.

The two underlying themes are that the large reaction to this incident reflects more on the bland nature of the race itself, and that the nonsensical decisions taken by those working in this arm of the FIA are still commonplace. Perhaps if there was no need to interpret so widely the rules that are put forth by the FIA, decisions like this would not cause such debate. With the spectacle provided by the racing being put on the backburner, the spectacle of events off track have reared their ugly head once again.

Those who believe in Karma, your time has come.

(James Rossi)

They have issued five-place penalties to both Virgin drivers due to failing to notify them about the VR-01 cars’ gear ratios.

Renault’s Vitaly Petrov will also start five places down in Barcelona after damaging his gearbox in his morning practice crash. HRT’s Karun Chandhok suffers the same penalty, also for an unscheduled gearbox change.

It was feared that the reason for Adrian Sutil’s morning breakdown was also the gearbox, but in fact the Force India has been repaired with a new electrical hardware component.

The stewards also summoned five drivers after practice, including Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, for supposedly ignoring yellow flags.

The other drivers investigated were Nico Rosberg, Nico Hulkenberg and both Toro Rosso cars, but it is believed there will be no penalties.

HRT rookie Bruno Senna, meanwhile, must pay 1400 euros to the FIA for speeding in the pitlane.
(GMM)