Maldonado: I just lost the back end

Williams’ Pastor Maldonado has insisted his late-race crash when on course for a best ever finish of sixth was not down to a lapse in concentration.

The Venezuelan had enjoyed a good race up to the critical moment on the final lap and had been harrying Fernando Alonso for some time and consistently running faster than the Ferrari. But it all went wrong as he lost control at turn six and arced off circuit and into the wall.

“It was a very fast moment, but I just lost the back of the car and hit the wall - that’s it," he said afterwards. "I had already accepted [finishing behind Alonso] because I tried to pass into turn three and it didn’t work. I think Alonso was slowing down, his pace was not so strong, so maybe I got too close to him and that’s why I lost the back.

"It wasn’t a concentration thing – I was concentrating and pushing as normal, looking after the tyres and the settings. I was enjoying the fight, but maybe I just got too close. We are a bit disappointed, but that’s racing.”

Chief Operations Engineer, Mark Gillan added: “While the end result was disappointing for the team, we are all very pleased with the significant performance improvement of the FW34, with the car showing both good qualifying and race pace.”