Hamilton and Maldonado had made get in touch with at the Bus Stop chicane as McLaren driver pushed to whole his final flying lap of Q2 in ever-improving conditions.
"I think it was quite serious and just fortunate that neither of us, particularly him, was flipped into a big crash," sad Hamilton.
British speedy said his car was carrying damage in Q3 as a result, although he still qualified second in the grid.
"I have to look at it afterwards," said Hamilton. "At the end of Q2, I got to the end of the lap, the Williams was sitting there going very slow, and I had to try and get past. Then I lost quite a lot of time and as I was coming down the exit of Turn 1 I saw Maldonado approaching quite quickly. He came around me, I didn't move anywhere, and he tried to swipe across me. I don't know if it was intentional."
"The front wing was quite badly damaged, the sidepod and I think front suspension was damaged, front toe-in was a little bit out," he said. I think once the flag is out and the red lights are on there is no need to be racing - there should never ever be an incident."
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