Lewis Hamilton is statistically the greatest Formula 1 driver in history, but even the seven-time champion has sporadically fallen foul of the rulebook during his career.
The Briton sits head and shoulders above his peers in many categories after setting records galore since debuting for McLaren in 2007. The dominance that Mercedes enjoyed from the start of the 1.6-litre V6 turbo-hybrid power unit era in 2014 also led to a lot of his successes.
Only Michael Schumacher has won the F1 drivers’ championship as often as Hamilton, after the latter joined the former on seven titles. Yet the iconic German cannot compete with the Briton for Grand Prix wins (105 to 91), pole positions (104 to 68) and podiums (202 to 155).
Hamilton will even now hope to surpass Schumacher as the first eight-time world champion with the team with whom the German won five of his titles after joining Ferrari in 2025. The Stevenage-born star drove for McLaren from 2007-12 and then for Mercedes from 2013-24.
Lewis Hamilton’s exclusion from qualifying helped Pastor Maldonado win his only race at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix
Hamilton’s record total of Formula 1 pole positions would even be one greater if not for the Briton being excluded from qualifying for the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. He had recorded the fastest Q3 lap time with a 1:21.707 to beat Pastor Maldonado of Williams by 0.578 seconds.
Driving for McLaren, Hamilton was in a class of his own in the final stage of qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya that term. But the stewards sent Hamilton to the back of the grid after McLaren told him to stop on the circuit in fear of having insufficient fuel in the car.
McLaren unsuccessfully tried to argue that Hamilton’s MP4-27 not having the required one litre of fuel was ‘force majeure’. But their misery made for happy memories for Maldonado, as the Williams racer became the first – and to date only – Venezuelan to score a pole in F1.
Maldonado would even capitalise on inheriting pole position thanks to Hamilton’s exclusion from qualifying to become the first – and to date only – Venezuelan to not just stand on the F1 podium but to win a Grand Prix, as he beat Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso at his home round.
Oviedo native Alonso initially overtook Maldonado at the start of the 2012 Spanish GP after getting a superior launch in the Spaniard’s Ferrari F2012. But Williams gave Maldonado the perfect strategy to strike back, and he ultimately beat Alonso by 3.195s for his only victory.
Lewis Hamilton called Pastor Maldonado ‘ridiculous’ after the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix
Maldonado was rarely more than a midfield driver beyond his sole victory in F1 in the 2012 Spanish GP, in which Hamilton responded to his exclusion from qualifying after scoring pole to finish P8 and 78.140s behind. The grid during the 2012 F1 season also boasted 24 cars.
Hamilton and Maldonado also often had a fractious relationship thanks to a raft of crashes between the pair. The latter was only on the grid from 2011 to 2015 but retired from 32 of his 95 Grand Prix starts, with collisions or driver errors also accounting for 13 of his retirements.
The third DNF of Maldonado’s F1 career and first for a collision also came after contact with Hamilton in the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix. Contact on Lap 73 of 78 in the Principality meant Maldonado failed to see the chequered flag while Hamilton would come home in just sixth.
Hamilton was handed a 20-second penalty post-race for causing an avoidable collision with Maldonado, although it did not affect his final position. The Briton pitched the Venezuelan into the barrier at Sainte Devote after trying an overtake at Turn 1 after a safety car restart.
Despite being the one penalised, Hamilton criticised Maldonado for the crash. The McLaren driver suggested, via RaceFans: “I went up the inside of Maldonado and you can see on the screen he turned in a good car length too early to stop me from overtaking him and crashed into me. This stuff’s ridiculous. These drivers are absolutely fricking ridiculous. It’s stupid.”
Once the dust settled after the 2011 F1 Monaco GP, Hamilton apologised to Maldonado ‘If I offended you’. The Stevenage native also added that the Venezuelan and Felipe Massa were ‘fantastic drivers who I regard highly’, having also collided with the Brazilian during the race.