Maldonado demoted to 22nd after gearbox change

2012 Canadian Grand Prix

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Pastor Maldonado will lose five places on the grid after a penalty for having his gearbox changed.

Maldonado originally qualified 17th after crashing at the end of Q2.

His penalty leaves him 22nd on the grid, promoting Heikki Kovalainen to 17th.

It’s Maldonado’s third grid penalty in the last two races. He had another gearbox change in Monaco and was demoted ten places for colliding with Sergio Perez during practice.

See the updated 2012 Canadian Grand Prix grid.

2012 Canadian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    15 comments on “Maldonado demoted to 22nd after gearbox change”

    1. Can anyone explain to me how Maldonado has managed to go through a gearbox which has surely only managed a few hundred metres in Monaco and the limited mileage it has covered in qualifying in Montreal?

      1. Result of quali crash perhaps.

        1. @ivan-vinitskyy Probably. He did clatter the barrier with his back-end first I think.

          1. That was Senna. Maldonado did hit with the rear, but it was only the wheel that hit the barrier I think. Maybe it still damaged the gearbox, but there wasn’t really any direct impact with the barrier.

      2. This is their tactic they feel that its is worth it.

    2. can he now be described as a ‘car breaker’?

      1. nah he is getting his money worth ! He is definetely mal Do or break

    3. So, he’ll be starting behind de la Rosa again… Hopefully the first few turns go better than in Monaco!

      1. De la rosa should also change gear box and not be hit again !

      2. He better not! I was fuming after Monaco. HRT could gain a lot of positions on the first few laps; so I hope they cleanly get around T1-2-3

    4. In terms of the total positions demoted Maldonado has become the top most penalized driver this year. 10 + 5 in Monaco and another 5 here. I don’t know why but he and Schumacher seem to get penalties by the dozen. More than Lewis and Massa.

      1. Hum you are missing Lewis going from pole to last … That’s a 23 places penalty

        I’m still surprised he doesn’t start from the pitlane as modifications has been made to the car after quali … Isn’t it the rule ?

    5. I guess if it was my money propping up the team I’d feel more than entitled to whack the gearbox off any immovable object I fancied…

    6. I think williams could do with a Hamilton or Alonso calibre driver-the car seems to be good enough to attract a top driver, but would a top driver take the chance? Anyway – C`MON WILLIAMS…….

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