Did he squeeze Maldonado off the track? No, he left the mandatory car's width in the braking zone and then if your opponent tries to go around the outside of a tight corner he's likely to run out of space, that's perfectly normal. Should Lewis have left more space for Maldonado? Absolutely yes, especially for him given their history together, but the layout of the track there means he couldn't run very far off line as a tight left hander followed immediately. But the bottom line is that Maldonado speared at a sharp angle into the side of Hamilton's car having just recovered from fully off the race track. The throttle pedal works both ways, and this was a particularly stupid accident anyway because he was guaranteed to pass the McLaren any time soon. Apparently Williams had implored him on the radio not to take risks, and he is very lucky not to be carrying a heavy grid penalty to Silverstone.

It's the driver overtaking who has the ultimate responsibility to make a clean overtake and while Hamilton did push Maldonado, he did nothing against the rules and Maldonado could have easily waited to rejoin the track and make an overtake into the hairpin. It's absurd to suggest a driver shouldn't defend because their tyres are worn.

true enough. Maybe it's just my sympathy because I would have done the same in rfactor :shame:

true enough. Maybe it's just my sympathy because I would have done the same in rfactor :shame:

I drove into the side of you once and sent you into a series of barrel rolls.

But don't discount me, when it comes to the final corner ...

Maldonado because he was off the line, not 2 wheel but all 4, accident could have been avoided. I would have cutted the chicane. He would overtake him anyway... just a little patience.

It's interesting to me how the international view of a move like this seems to be "it's okay for Hamilton to shove Maldonado off the racetrack since it's the overtaking car's responsibility to make the move cleanly." However, that type of move doesn't happen much in American racing -- we seem to have more of the mentality that if the guy is there, don't risk taking both of you out. Give him some extra room and let him stay on the racetrack even if you lose the spot. You're much less likely to have one or both of you wrecked that way. Anyone else notice this, or is it just me?