On lap 40 of the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix, Sauber’s Esteban Gutiérrez was flipped by Pastor Maldonado of Lotus.
Everyone seems to be making fun of the Lotus “forklift” and I think it’s funny and also true. The nose is designed to lift and overturn cars perfectly. I’m sure that was not the intention of that design, but it could be an added bonus.
Some people are also saying that Maldonado should have been banned from the 2014 Chinese Grand Prix along with receiving his 10 second stop-and-go penalty in Bahrain. I don’t really think that this accident is deserving of a suspension. You can look at the replay and see that this all was an accident. Maldonado attempted to out-brake Gutiérrez on the inside of the turn, but ended up getting into him.
I also think that Gutiérrez needs to take some responsibility for the accident. Sure it was Maldonado’s fault for getting up into Gutiérrez, but Gutiérrez saw Maldonado coming in his mirrors, but still decided to dive for the apex in the turn. Gutiérrez’s involvement was not deserving of any penalty, but Maldonado’s was.
Good call by the stewarts to hand him a 10 second stop-and-so penalty and 5 place gird penalty for China.
