Maldonado brushes off Perez attack

Pastor Maldonado was careful not to get drawn into a war of words with Sauber's Sergio Perez, after the two drivers clashed at the end of lap 13 early in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Frustrated with being unable to pass the Williams shortly after the two had emerged from their first pit stop, Perez tried going around the outside of Maldonado who lost traction on the cool tyres and ended up sliding across into the side of the Sauber.

The collision put Perez out of the race and left him fuming, while Maldonado was able to limp back to the pits for repairs and continue, albeit well out of the points.

"It was a very disappointing moment, the race was going good for us," Maldonado told reporters after the race. " The strategy, we stopped at the right moment."

Asked to describe what happened in the incident with Perez, Maldonado said: "At that moment, I was coming out of the pit with cold tyres. I was on the inside of the corner, so the corner was mine.

"Sergio was on the other side, on the outside of the corner trying to beat me, to take the position from me. I tried to defend on the entry, I just lost the rear of the car," he said. "I think cold tyres, you know? Cold tyres."

Maldonado added that he was disappointed about the incident, as it had essentially wrecked both his and Perez' races on the spot.

"I think, unlucky race for me, and that's it," he said. "The car was quite okay, maybe not very quick but very consistent."

When told that Perez had launched a blistering verbal attack on him while the race had been going on - saying that Maldonado was "a driver who doesn't respect other drivers" and that the Venezuelan was "a very dangerous driver and he can hurt someone" - Maldonado refused to hit back in kind.

"I think he was angry because it compromised the race for sure," he responded instead. "He can say whatever he want.

"We are racing, you know? We were trying to do our best on the track," he continued. "I was trying to defend the position, he was trying to gain the position and this is racing, you know? Otherwise everyone races with a safety car and it's safer!"

Asked by reporters whether he would go and discuss the issue with Perez directly, Maldonado simply shrugged: "If I see him, yes - why not?"

The incident is expected to be investigated by the race stewards.