European GP: Maldonado given post race penalty

The 2012 European Grand Prix would see Williams F1 driver Pastor Maldonado involved in an incident with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton when Pastor was attempting a passing move on Hamilton for third place.

Maldonado said the incident would not have happened if Hamilton had allowed him to stay on the track.

Pastor said: "He tried to put me off the track. He didn't leave any room for me to stay on and do the corner side by side. I jumped over the kerb and I couldn't avoid the accident.

"I don't know why he drove like that," Maldonado said. "He was struggling too much with the tyres. He was completely lost and at that moment I was getting very good pace. He tried a very aggressive move on me."

Pastor would complete the race but would finish in tenth.

But officials did not accept Pastor's view of the incident giving him a post-race drive-through penalty for his collision with Hamilton.

The penalty would see twenty seconds added to Pastor's final time, seeing him drop to twelfth. This would see team-mate Bruno Senna moving up to tenth and securing the final point.