2011 F1 Spa Qualifying Session: Hamilton vs Maldonado Round 2

If I had heard back in January that Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado would get into such a rivalry, I would have scoffed and labeled the prediction as absolutely rubbish. But lo and behold not, once but twice the pair have been involved in altercations—both of which were avoidable and simply unnecessary. 

The first round occurred at Monaco earlier this year.

Hamilton had a tough race. He had already been penalized for a collision with Felipe Massa, for which he received a drive-through penalty. Then, in a desperate attempt to perform damage limitation to his championship hopes, he collided with Maldonado. This got him yet another penalty (20-second penalty added to his final time), which fortunately for him didn't affect his final position. It did, though, result in an ill-tempered Hamilton coming out with the infamous joke about his race being the reason why he was so harshly treated, for which he later apologized.

However, that penalty didn't seem to pacify Maldonado at all. To be fair to him, who would feel satisfied by a penalty that doesn't affect a driver who took you out and cost you valuable championship points? Especially when they are hard to come by at Williams, as this year is turning to be a complete failure for them.

Now, back to the present. In a very tricky qualifying session around the famous Spa Francorchamps, these two drivers yet again collided, but this time in very much different circumstances when the qualifying session was over.

Hamilton, in an attempt to cross the line with the fastest possible time due to knowing that would be his last chance in the session, made a brave and typically daring move on Maldonado. Yes, they touched and yes, this may have compromised Maldonado, but both being on hot laps, its difficult to blame Lewis in that situation. If that occurred in a race, nothing would have been made of it and nothing should have been in this context.

Maldonado obviously had other ideas though.

After both of them had crossed the line, going into La Source hairpin (the first corner, just like in Monaco), Maldonado went side by side. Then seemingly, he cut across Hamilton, causing damage to both of them. Lewis needed minor repairs to his side pod, but was still able to qualify well in second place in the final qualifying session.

When the collision occurred, I automatically assumed Pastor was to blame, and I was calling for all sorts of "knee-jerk" reactions like calling for his disqualification for at least a few races. At the end of the day, that sort of behavior has no place in the sport and an example was necessary.

After a few slow-motion replays, though, I noticed that not only one driver changed direction in the collision. They showed that Hamilton swerved not once but twice into Pastor.

Then my opinion started to change.

I came to the conclusion that both were as bad as each other. Let's forget about that for a minute, though, and look at the recklessness of the whole situation. This incident puts the safety of fans and others in jeopardy. The bits of carbon-fiber that flew everywhere could have hit someone. And for what? To let a bit of anger out or to boost one's ego?

The punishment was a five-place grid drop for Maldonado and a reprimand for Lewis. This, in the grand scheme of things, is probably a fair judgement. Still, I've noticed around the Internet, Twitter especially, how dismayed a lot of people are that Hamilton got any sort of punishment.

One thing everyone can agree with is that this "feud" needs to stop now before someone actually gets hurt. Also, Lewis may believe the whole world is against him when it comes to these racing incidents, and to the untrained eye, it might be the case. However, time and time again, he finds himself in these situations. He needs to reassess himself and all the incidents, and for once accept that, from time to time, he might actually be to blame.

I think the saying is "it takes two to tango," Mr Hamilton.