Pastor Maldonado has said that he doesn't care about the reputation he has been given as F1's crash kid.
This was cemented at the last round at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit where the Venezuelan made contact with both Force India cars, taking out Paul Di Resta.
However, he isn't willing to change his aggressive driving style to change this.
Maldonado was the most penalised driver of 2012 and the penalties have kept on coming in 2013. Most recently, he was given a 10 second stop-go penalty for the incident with Sutil and Di Resta at the Belgian Grand Prix - something he feels was unfair - but is unconcerned by the reputation.
Speaking to ESPN he said: "I'm racing, this is racing. My reputation is another thing. I will race and if some people think something about me then they are free. I cannot say 'don't think that'."
He was asked if he felt that stewards were picking on him, replying: "If you make a mistake you must be penalised. But the decision they take sometimes can be quite strong. That's my opinion."
However he did acknowledge that the stewards have a difficult job to do, although he feels it was "obvious" that his penalty at Spa was unfair.
"It depends how is the view from their side. It's like football. It's always difficult to say from the outside, and even [difficult to explain] from the inside if you are trying to explain to them and they are not properly in the place. I think what happened in Spa is clear; very clear and obvious. And I think it's unfair that I got the penalty."
The latter is something that I completely disagree with, Maldonado was clearly at fault for both incidents. The first contact with Sutil wouldn't have happened if the Venezuelan had not been turning right to get a better line through the corner.
It was then a rather stupid move - in my view - to immediately turn right and into the pit entry without checking that there was someone there. Yes, mirrors on Formula 1 cars are terrible and drivers don't have very good views from the cockpit, but it was a rather reckless move to presume someone wasn't there when he know that he was battling with a back of cars.
Williams has so far had a difficult season with the tricky FW35. Maldonado scored the team's sole point of the season so far in Hungary but Bottas - who has matched his team-mate consistently - hasn't had the car underneath him to sneak into the points scoring positions.
They currently sit ninth in the standings, six points behind Sauber.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
However, he isn't willing to change his aggressive driving style to change this.
Maldonado was the most penalised driver of 2012 and the penalties have kept on coming in 2013. Most recently, he was given a 10 second stop-go penalty for the incident with Sutil and Di Resta at the Belgian Grand Prix - something he feels was unfair - but is unconcerned by the reputation.
Speaking to ESPN he said: "I'm racing, this is racing. My reputation is another thing. I will race and if some people think something about me then they are free. I cannot say 'don't think that'."
He was asked if he felt that stewards were picking on him, replying: "If you make a mistake you must be penalised. But the decision they take sometimes can be quite strong. That's my opinion."
However he did acknowledge that the stewards have a difficult job to do, although he feels it was "obvious" that his penalty at Spa was unfair.
"It depends how is the view from their side. It's like football. It's always difficult to say from the outside, and even [difficult to explain] from the inside if you are trying to explain to them and they are not properly in the place. I think what happened in Spa is clear; very clear and obvious. And I think it's unfair that I got the penalty."
The latter is something that I completely disagree with, Maldonado was clearly at fault for both incidents. The first contact with Sutil wouldn't have happened if the Venezuelan had not been turning right to get a better line through the corner.
It was then a rather stupid move - in my view - to immediately turn right and into the pit entry without checking that there was someone there. Yes, mirrors on Formula 1 cars are terrible and drivers don't have very good views from the cockpit, but it was a rather reckless move to presume someone wasn't there when he know that he was battling with a back of cars.
Williams has so far had a difficult season with the tricky FW35. Maldonado scored the team's sole point of the season so far in Hungary but Bottas - who has matched his team-mate consistently - hasn't had the car underneath him to sneak into the points scoring positions.
They currently sit ninth in the standings, six points behind Sauber.
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