Maldonado given 10-place grid penalty

MONTE CARLO, Monaco, May 26, 2012 (AFP) - Two weeks after his dramatic victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, Pastor Maldonado was on Saturday handed a ten-place grid penalty at this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old Venezuelan was punished for his part in a collision with Mexican Sergio Perez during the closing stages of Saturday morning's final free practice session ahead of Sunday's classic 78-lap race.

The accident, involving the Williams driver and his Sauber counterpart, came shortly before Maldonado, the first Venezuelan to win a Grand Prix, crashed in Casino Square to bring the session to an early end.

The collision came one lap earlier at Portier where Perez appeared to move off line and slow down to give Maldonado room to pass but the Venezuelan cut across him on the approach to the tunnel.

Perez was also involved in a minor incident with German Nico Hulkenberg of Force India and then crashed again in the opening minutes of the afternoon qualifying session when he brushed the barriers in the swimming pool complex, causing the Q1 session to be red-flagged.