Maldonado, Perez, Hulkenberg handed penalty points

Pastor Maldonado has been given three penalty points for exceeding the speed limit whilst behind the Safety Car during the Malaysian Grand Prix.

That brings his penalty points tally to eight, though three of those are due to expire at the next race in China.

Should a driver receive 12 points on their license over a 12 month period, then they will automatically miss the next race.

The Lotus driver was also handed a 10-second time penalty, as were Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg.

The pair were also handed two penalty points each, with the former being penalized for a collision with Romain Grosjean and the latter with Daniil Kvyat (pictured).

Both Perez and Hulkenberg believed their penalties to be unfair, with each claiming their clashes were simply racing incidents.

"To be honest I couldn't avoid it at all, it was just a racing incident," said the Mexican. "I tried my best to avoid him but it's a very fast corner and you are just so on the limit.

"I was quite surprised to be honest with the penalty as I didn't have anywhere to go. I actually didn't say anything to my team because I thought it was clear."

Hulkenberg added: "Daniil didn't see me coming back across at Turn 2. I tried to pull out but it was too late and we made contact.

"He is turning in completely while there is a car next to him so maybe he should leave some room too, but maybe he didn't expect anyone to come through there."