• Williams driver’s support from state-owned PDVSA criticised
• ‘The comments are also something political,’ says Maldonado

Pastor Maldonado has dismissed criticism of the way his Formula One career is being funded even though his country is racked by poverty.

Maldonado’s victory for Williams in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix was primarily seen as a force for good in his homeland as he became the first driver from Venezuela to win in Formula One.

The 26-year-old was even congratulated personally by the president, Hugo Chávez, after a race that was marred by a blaze that swept through the team’s garage at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.

With campaigning ongoing as Venezuela builds towards its election later this year, there remains opposition to the fact Maldonado’s F1 career is supported by the state-owned oil company PDVSA to the tune of £27m per year.

The belief is such considerable finances would be better served in assisting Venezuela’s infrastructure, such as building better roads and schools, rather than supporting one driver in a rich man’s sport.

Responding to the criticism, Maldonado said: “I’m very lucky to have my country behind me pushing me so hard to see me in Formula One. PDVSA have supported me all my career, and I’m so lucky to have them because that has helped develop the car, our performance.

“So I’m not worried because the whole of the country is happy because of the result, especially because it has come quite soon. From now most of the people are looking forward to Formula One, which is popular in Venezuela.

“The comments are also something political. We are in the middle of elections and people are free to say what they want. But the government is pushing hard, not only in Formula One and motor sports, but a lot of other sports at the moment, and we are getting some very important results.”

Sport: Motor sport | guardian.co.uk

• Drivers to hold discussion before Spanish Grand Prix
• Debate prompted by Nico Rosberg incident in Bahrain

Lewis Hamilton’s aggressive driving style will be discussed at what is expected to be a heated drivers’ meeting here on Friday night. Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were both forced wide by the Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg in last month’s Bahrain Grand Prix – Alonso backed off but Hamilton did not slow down and succeeded in passing the equally aggressive Rosberg, even though he had to go beyond the edge of the track to do so, which is against the rules.

Rosberg and Hamilton were cleared by stewards afterwards but that will not stop them being asked to defend their actions in front of their peers on Friday night. The Red Bull driver Mark Webber said on Thursday: “I was surprised that Lewis was allowed to keep his position. It was a situation that Lewis didn’t want to find himself in, off the track, but he stayed with it and ultimately the move was kept. I’m sure we’ll talk about it in the drivers’ briefing.”

When Hamilton was told of this he said he was not surprised. “Mark is probably one of the most – if not the most – outspoken individual here so that is the least I expect from him,” he said.

Ironically, Hamilton’s driving has been at it’s most controlled this season as he has battled to preserve his difficult tyres, and he is second in the championship. He added: “I’m not really bothered, to be honest. It’s in the past for me. I’m a racer and I didn’t feel I was in the wrong. Everyone has a right to their own opinions but it doesn’t mean they are right.

“You can’t see from the camera angles whether I was alongside but I know I was. I had a good slingshot out of the corner and as he [Rosberg] kept going over I had nowhere to go. The wall was quite far away but if it’d been there I would have been in it. We do have to give each other room to a certain extent and not do as Michael’s experience with Rubens.”

He was referring to the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2010 when Michael Schumacher almost shoved Rubens Barrichello into a wall.

But Hamilton appeared to welcome the meeting when he said: “It’s good to have clarity. Whatever they decide, will affect all the drivers.”

Reflecting on the incident with Rosberg he added: “Fortunately neither of us got in trouble, neither of us were hurt, and hopefully we will try and rectify the rules to make them clearer so that we won’t be in that position again.

“Lots of people have commented on it, but the only two people who know exactly what happened are myself and Nico. The footage you have of what occurred is from the front, and it is very difficult to see clearly what happened, whether I was alongside him or not.

“But the stewards made the right decision, and hopefully this weekend we will clarify the rules. Would it have happened if there had been grass or a wall? Probably not. If there had, it would have been an interesting situation.”

That was echoed by Rosberg, who said: “Of course if there had been the barriers at Monaco it would have been a different story, but then again the guys behind would have backed off a lot earlier. In that situation, which I’d probably do again, it was harsh but within the rules, and I didn’t judge I was putting my competitors in danger.”

Hamilton and Rosberg appeared to come under fire from Alonso this week when the Spaniard wrote on his Twitter account: “I think you are going to have fun in future races! You can defend position as you want and you can overtake outside the track! Enjoy!”

Sport: Motor sport | guardian.co.uk

• Ferrari tweet: ‘An off track from Fernando hampered session’
• Alonso had recorded the fastest time of the morning

Fernando Alonso has driven his Ferrari into a barrier during the third and final day of Formula One testing at the Mugello circuit, but appears to have escaped uninjured.

Ferrari wrote on their Twitter feed: “An off track from Fernando hampered morning’s session. At least two hours to repair the damages. It is a shame but that’s testing!”

Alonso had recorded the fastest time of the morning session when he lost control of his F2012 and damaged a wing on a track owned by Ferrari, near Scarperia in Tuscany, central Italy.

These are the first in-season tests in Formula One in four years.

The next race is the Spanish Grand Prix on 13 May. Alonso, who won the Malaysian Grand Prix, the season’s second race, is fifth in the standings.

Sport: Motor sport | guardian.co.uk

Bernie Ecclestone and Formula One have negotiated the speed bump of Bahrain but, although the drivers and teams buried their heads in the sand, the issues remain far from black and white

The chequered flag fluttered, the engines fell silent, the trophies were awarded and the Formula One circus emitted a sigh of relief before packing up and moving out, consigning the events of Bahrain to the past and looking forward to starting the European season at the Circuit de Catalunya in three weeks’ time. There will be no improvised roadblocks made of burning tyres in Barcelona, no demonstrators holding up photographs of the victims of alleged torture, no embarrassing questions about the right of grand prix racing to go about its business in an atmosphere of political conflict. Make no mistake: to Formula One the unpleasantness in Bahrain represents nothing more than an isolated speed bump.

Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt, at whom most of the criticism was directed, know that none of it will stick – at least not where it counts. Most of those who formed an unfavourable impression of the sport last week, or had an existing dislike reinforced, were not members of its natural constituency in the first place. As for the TV audience, since this is Sky’s first season in F1, it is not possible to make a meaningful comparison of the satellite broadcaster’s viewing figures, although experience suggests that the extra publicity and the possibility of disruption may even have persuaded more people to tune in to the live broadcast. Which the sponsors would not mind a bit.

Those willing to defend Bahrain’s right to hold a grand prix made some fair points. Among us commentators, for instance, how many really know what sort of political agenda was driving last week’s protesters? Would we happily support the cause of Al Wefaq, the leading opposition party, which took 64% of the popular vote at the last election and holds 18 of the 40 seats in the lower house, the Council of Representatives? Representing the Shia majority, Al Wafeq has campaigned against the activities of the Supreme Council for Women, which was set up by the government after women had been granted the vote and the right to stand for election in 2002. When none was elected, thanks to the influence of the Islamist parties, six women were appointed to the 40 strong Shura Council, the upper house, whose members are nominated by Bahrain’s king.

So that’s a bit of moral confusion for you, right there. Here’s another: why shouldn’t Formula One go to Bahrain (or China or Turkey) when, whatever their human rights record, the British government and many others are happy for their citizens to do business there? And don’t Ecclestone and Todt have an obligation to honour their contracts?

Here’s an answer. As the members of the Formula One circus prepared to shake the dust of the desert from their feet on Sunday night, they were confronted by a banner across the track, bearing a message from the organisers: “UniF1ed – We Did It!” Now there could be no misunderstanding about the use to which Bahrain’s rulers were putting their grand prix, for which they pay Ecclestone m a year.

The “UniF1ed” slogan had been much in evidence before the race, in clear breach of Formula One’s own covenants, which bar it from political involvement of any kind. Here was the government of Bahrain exploiting an opportunity to claim success for its efforts to address the grievances of those whose demonstrations caused the 2011 race to be cancelled. Clear grounds, you might think, for Ecclestone or Todt to cancel again this year.

Last week Amnesty International issued a report headed “Flawed Reforms: Bahrain fails to achieve justice for protesters”, contradicting the government’s claims and giving details of continuing violations of human rights. It would be nice to think that one or two of the drivers bothered to read it. But here is another dismaying feature of modern Formula One: a couple of dozen (mostly) intelligent young men can be cowed into silence by commercial imperatives. No one expects them to jump on the barricades but a simple expression of concern or some sign of an interest in the outside world would be welcome.

When Sebastian Vettel, the current world champion, attempted on Thursday to comment on the issues of personal safety affecting F1 personnel in Bahrain, the way his words were reported made him seem grossly insensitive. Here, in full, is what he said: “I think generally being in the paddock surely there is no problem. Being outside of the paddock, maybe there is a risk, but there’s a risk everywhere we go. If you imagine when we go to Brazil, it’s not the place we want to be, as well, depending on the area you are [in]. It’s not a big problem and I’m happy once we start testing tomorrow then we worry about the stuff that really matters – tyre temperatures, cars …”

Vettel has a healthy sense of humour and while uttering those last few words he gave a little smile. But they were reprinted in isolation, without the suggestion that he was gently satirising the absurdity of Formula One’s self-absorption. Perhaps this time next year he and his fellow drivers will not find themselves in a position where their silence can be broken only by an embarrassed attempt at a joke. But don’t bet on it. For Bernie Ecclestone it will always be worth slowing momentarily for a speed bump if there’s a m cheque on the other side.

Sport: Motor sport | guardian.co.uk

Sport: Motor sport | guardian.co.uk