Pastor Maldonado Started Two Places Behind Where He Should Have

By  Stef Schrader

There's having a bad day, and then there's really having a bad day, and somewhere on that continuum of terribleness is Pastor Maldonado's trip to the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix. Maldonado received a penalty for gridding up 18th instead of 16th.

Let that sink in for a second: Maldonado received a five-second penalty for starting behind where he should be. Not only did he have a two-place disadvantage at the start, but he borked the grid from 16th place onwards and ultimately had to wait five extra seconds during one of his pit stops.

I believe we call this "Maldonaderp." At least this flub didn't involve damage to other cars.

It took longer than usual for the race to start this morning, and I suspect the confusion caused by Maldonado starting from 18th had something to do with that.

Ultimately, though, it didn't matter all that much. Even though Maldonado was driving a fairly clean race and picking up some of the positions he gave away in the grid, he had a pretty lengthy stop due to an engine issue that sent smoke pouring out from his brakes.

Ouch. No points for Pastor this round. He finished fifteenth, ahead of the two Manor Marussia cars.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Contact the author at stef.schrader@jalopnik.com.

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