Pastor Maldonado

Courtesy of Planet F1 and Tranquility's post in the Belgian PQR thread here's a place to discuss the Williams' No.2

"Is Pastor Maldonado the scariest man in sport? His post-Spa interview was delivered with a stare that could put a weak-hearted man six foot under from a distance of ten yards and culminated in the remarkable, utterly-terrifying announcement that he regards Lewis Hamilton as "a really good friend."

Jeepers.

Just jeepers.

Fear and pray for his enemies."

Pastor started his racing career in Italy in the Formula Renault and F3000. He would have been Formula Renault 3.5 Champion if he hadn't been disqualified from a win at Misano in 2006. Moving on to GP2 Pastor raced for 4 seasons, eventually taking the title in 2010.

With not insubstantial financial backing from Venezuela's national petroleum company, PDVSA, he took Nico Hulkenberg's seat at Williams for 2011 winning his first point last weekend in Belgium.

On a personal level, he is a self proclaimed Socialist and a personal friend of controversial Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, which probably explains the backing from PDVSA.... Oh, and he's 26 and is still wearing braces on his teeth.

 

[Galahad]

Can any position on the last lap be described as "promising"? It was a guaranteed sixth, was it not?

Now if you said Grosjean was in a promising position when Maldonado hit him, then I'd agree with you.

 

[Brogan]

It was a guaranteed sixth, was it not?

Obviously not <pedantic mode off>

There's something about Maldonado's racecraft and attitude which bothers me.

The deliberate swipe into Hamilton last year should have earned him a ban.
On Sunday Grosjean gave him more than enough room but he still felt the need to shove him off the circuit onto the gravel.

Perhaps he'll mature and change, let's see.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Maldonado had another collision in China that went unnoticed.

The onboard feed was with Vettel at the end of Lap 1 and It gave a good view of Pastor running into the back of di Resta in the final corner which removed a large piece of his front wing and possibly some bits from Paul's car as well. Maldonado got a bit out of shape after that and Vettel was able to pass him before crossing the S/F line to start Lap 2.

I'll post the video here in a bit.

 

[Galahad]

So both Williams finished in the points despite their drivers taking chunks out of them.

I'll say it again: imagine what a proper driver could do with that car.

 

[Wombcat]

But on the other hand, would they have had that car without the funding these drivers got the team?

 

[Galahad]

I know, I know, they need to secure the future of the team. I just think it's a pity, that's all.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Here is said incident.

 

[FB]

I know one qualie session doesn't make a career but well done Pastor Maldonado - great drive to 2nd on the grid today and you have totally eclipsed your team mate.

 

[Il_leone]

That was one of the most impressive quali's and might make people take Pastor more seriously including me as I thought he was someone with big megabucks and he is trying disprove that he was right to replace the highly rated Hulkenberg

the next track is Monaco where he was a former GP2 winner twice
I am glad for Frank Williams that his team are back near the front .. a Williams victory might not be too far away

 

[Jos the Boss]

If Hamilton gets a penalty, Maldonado starts on pole!

 

[teabagyokel]

I take it all back, Reverend, well done indeed!

 

[Josh]

I don't think he could have given Frank a better birthday present, could he? He absolutely dominated his team mate and the car, which looked like a handful.

 

[Il_leone]

That was impressive and his favourite track Monaco is next

Nico Hulkenberg, Kimi Raikkonen, Adrian Sutil, and Rubens BArrichello must be resenting what happened for their own reasons not to be driving for Williams

 

[Josh]

I don't think he could have given Frank a better birthday present, could he? He absolutely dominated his team mate and the car, which looked like a handful.

I was wrong, he could have given Frank a better birthday present and that's exactly what he did today. Well done Pastor, what a superb drive.

 

[Kamui-FastestChefInTheWorld]

A few reasons why Pastor is not a brilliant driver...

 

[FB]

Looking at some of those videos I think Pastor might be narcoleptic. What was going on with Grosjean and at the Nurburgring?

 

[gethinceri]

Yes FB narcoleptic, an ideal description for today's idiocy.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Has anyone ever washed away more good-will in a single weekend than Pastor in Monaco?

Following up his race win with that utterly pathetic display around the principality has gone a long way in solidifying my preexisting take on him as a second-flight driver.

I mean seriously, where the hell did he think he was going into St. Devote at the start? I saw somebody suggest that Williams start him from the pit-lane, and I reckon that was the only way he would have avoided a shunt.

And to try to sell us the line that "he lost the car" when chopping up Perez is a joke.

 

[racecub]

Maldonado causes so much trouble. I really reallty really dont like him.

 

[Fenderman]

Bottom line is Hamilton should not have been put in that situation to begin with. McLaren outdid themselves on the strategy and pit stop foul up front this weekend. I've tempered my judgement on them thus far but now I'm convinced that a good shake up in the strategy dept. is way overdue. I also question the introduction of a new type of jack before sorting out the fundamentals of their pit stop routine. They seem to have sorted out one issue just to replace it with another. A truly bad day at the office.

Edit: Maldondo shows his immaturity and lack of judgement. If one is passing a driver whose tyres have gone off one should know that the guy is going to run wide. Hamilton did a pretty good job of keeing the Macca on line. He was a sitting duck for a pass on the next straight and Maldonado should know this. He is in F1 not GP2.