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.

 

[landogeorgelewis1]

Well we all knew that once Raikkonen ruled out a drive with Williams it was very likely that Maldonado would be kept on. Question remains will Sutil or Barrichello be his teammate next season?

 

[Bill Boddy]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96608

Team boss Frank Williams added: "Pastor has proven this year that he is not only quick but also that he is able to maintain a consistent and strong race pace. Pastor has been responsible for all of our forays into Q3 in 2011 and his race at Monaco was outstanding.
"Pastor has also settled into the team at Williams very well, contributing strongly in the factory and with our partners. He will play a critical role in 2012 as we rebuild the team and move forward."

Or did he say:

Team boss Frank Williams added: "Pastor has proven this year that he is not only quick to get his wallet out but also that he is able to maintain a consistent and strong race payment. Pastor has been responsible for paying for all our upgrades in 2011 and his monetary contribution at the casino in Monaco was outstanding.
"Pastor has also settled into the team at Williams very well, contributing strongly in the factory expenses and with our partners. He will play a critical role in 2012 with his cash paying to rebuild the team and move forward."

 

[The Artist.....]

Maldo is not a pay driver- he just has very rich sponsors! By that definition, we can also include Perez, alonso, et al as pay drivers! All the teams have sponsorship due to their drivers!

 

[FB]

I hate to disagree Mr Artist but a driver who attracts sponsorship because they're very good, such as Alonso, is not (to me at least) a "pay driver". Maldonado brings sponsors to a team to secure his seat regardless of his ability. He may well be the best driver in Venezuala but don't think that he deserves one of the 24 seats available in F1 when there are far more capable drivers out there who can't bring sponsorship.

 

[Brogan]

Pay drivers don't get paid by the team.

 

[The Artist.....]

Maldonado is the 2010 GP2 champion. He also has the benefit of bringing sponsors to the team. I would say that Maldo is both quick and brings sponsorship to the team.

Out of interest, does anyone KNOW whether Maldo takes a salary with Williams? My suspicion is that he does....

Personally, I can't see why people are so upset that Maldo has been given another year at Williams. It hasn't been one of the plum seats in F1 for several years now, (Since 2003 really), and so he's not really stopping someone else from making a significant break-through. He has had 1 season in F1, and on some circuits he's struggled, others he's excelled (Monaco?). I suspect that a lot of the ill-will is directed because of Spa-gate.... Remember that Maldo's performances could be compared favourably with di Resta's - if we take into account the relative quality of their respective cars!

 

[Senna's_right_foot]

he's not really stopping someone else from making a significant break-through.

Really? Nico Hulkenerg for one. Scored 22 points and one pole in his year, yet was dropped for Malonado, who scored 1 point.
It also took him 4 years to win the GP2 title, Hulkenberg won it at his first attempt and wiped the floor with Maldonado when they were teammates in GP2. Hulkenberg excelled far, far more at junior level than Maldonado but didn't have the cash with him so it was bye bye.
People are surprised* at Maldonado being kept on next year at Williams because very few who follow the lower formulae actually thought he was good enough to graduate to F1 in the first place.
Also there is the frustration that Williams have now seemingly come full circle - they started as a small team with no money running crap cars and pay drivers and are now a small team desperate for money running crap cars and at least one pay driver.

*or not, considering Williams are desperate for the cash he brings from PDVSA.

I suspect that a lot of the ill-will is directed because of Spa-gate....

The ill-will is directed because he isn't good enough and there are far better drivers who are being kept out of a seat because of drivers like Maldonado, Barichello, Senna, Karthikeyan, Trulli etc. Spa was disgraceful and has no place in F1, but it wasn't the first time Maldonado has engaged gear before brain. i can assure you it's nothing to do with allegiences with any other drivers.

 

[The Artist.....]

Can I just clarify that I'm not a Maldonado fan - I just feel that there are far more deserving drivers of all the vitriol that's focussed at him.

I suppose you could really ask the question about what have drivers like Kobayashi done to deserve their seats? or Pic? or Massa? or de la Rosa? etc etc etc... Remember that Barrichello soundly beat Hulkenberg in 2010, and so when the team was deciding which driver to keep on, with the constraint that they needed sponsorship, or they would have (likely) gone under, they chose to keep their more successful driver! Maldonado is, like it or not, a GP2 champion. That puts him in the top echelon of junior drivers!

 

[FB]

Point taken

 

[Senna's_right_foot]

I suppose you could really ask the question about what have drivers like Kobayashi done to deserve their seats? or Pic? or Massa? or de la Rosa? etc etc etc...

Absolutely agree, although maybe not with Kobayashi
I should also have added that i'm against pay drivers full stop and never thought i'd see the day when Williams would have to stoop that low.

 

[teabagyokel]

Remember that Barrichello soundly beat Hulkenberg in 2010

Well, Sutil soundly beat di Resta in 2011, but we're still all expected to believe that di Resta was the brilliant; the difference being (as I've pointed out elsewhere) Hulkenburg achieved what Seb Vettel would have done in 2008 at Monza had it been a dry Sunday.

I suppose you could really ask the question about what have drivers like Kobayashi done to deserve their seats? or Pic? or Massa? or de la Rosa? etc etc etc...

Kobayashi scored 30 of Sauber's 44 points this season, and his first 7 races of the season were brilliantly consistent, so I don't think that is valid at all.

Massa doesn't deserve a seat and de la Rosa has only got his seat with the Comedy Club.

He has had 1 season in F1, and on some circuits he's struggled, others he's excelled (Monaco?).

But, a lot like his junior career, being a Monaco specialist will only get you so far (ain't that right, Giancarlo?)!

I suspect that a lot of the ill-will is directed because of Spa-gate....

I would agree. I think, however, if you start deliberately crashing into other drivers, even at the slow speeds that they were going, you are likely to lose a lot of neutral support. I would have criticised that if it were any driver on the grid crashing into any other driver on the grid. He should have sat out the race (and before you accuse me of inconsistency, Senna should probably have picked up a life ban for his stunt at Japan in 1990).

 

[Slyboogy]

Excluding retirements compared to Barrichello during the races the score between them is Barrichello 7 Maldonado 6, not too shabby at all, and Maldonado should have more points as he has had 2 more chances to score we've didn't in Monaco and in I think it was Korea or India where he was in 10th but got a stupid penalty. He's got Rubens beat in qualifying.

I am by no means a fan of his at all, but I think he's getting a lot of unfair criticism I used to criticise him a lot in the first half of the season as he was terrible. But looking at his performances against Barrichello and the stats he's not done badly at all. He's childish but there have been many childish drivers in F1.

I can see why Williams have confirmed Maldonado, hes done what he could against Barrichello plus he has good backing, a bit like Petrov. You may say Barrichello will help develop Williams, in the two seasons he's been there I haven't seen much development.

I wasn't happy when Maldonado replaced Hulkenberg the way he did, and the way Williams handled Hulkenberg, but Maldonado like the Hulk hasn't done too badly against someone who's driven 19 seasons in F1.

 

[teabagyokel]

You may say Barrichello will help develop Williams, in the two seasons he's been there I haven't seen much development.

I think one of the problems is the overrating of a 39-year-old Barrichello, which has helped me come to my low opinion of Maldonado!

 

[Andyoak]

As a Williams supporter I should have read Pastor's pages earlier but these things happen...

Well, I've done it now and I am just amazed at the levels of hatred (and there is no better word that I can think of) that has been spat at this man on this forum; amazing and not what I've come to expect.

So he ain't pretty; has a dubious personality and is accident prone... so was Mansell.

He's also proven himself to be quick in a bad car and appears, after last weekend, to be quick in a good car. I agree he probably won't be WDC and may not even win a GP. But he is not the worst driver out there; he is justifying his place on the grid and he is probably keeping a team going that deserves to keep going. Against all odds Williams appear to have come up with a good car on a tight budget and have a driver who is probably going to give them the points cash to continue improving next year.

Give Pastor a break... until he really messes up.

 

[Viscount]

It's not really a tight budget for the team when Maldonado brings an estimated £45 million and Senna brings £12m...
That said Maldonado is always exceptionally quick at Monaco, so with Williams seeming to have a competitive car this year it'll be interesting to see how he performs throughout the season.

 

[Tacitus]

 

[OnTheLimit]

I don't know why people give this guy so much stick. He's shown flashes of brilliance throughout his F1 career and he could turn out to be a solid driver in the future, maybe even a race winner.

I love his never give up, all out attitude as we saw at Aus, he's a pure racer and wouldn't be surprised if he got a podium this season as the Williams looks incredibly fast.

Pastor Maldonado

 

[Jen]

I think he is an ill mannered, if not exactly a dirty racer - racing is brilliant but there has to be an etiquette. So it's not enough to be fast any more - there has to be other attributes and skills.

After all anyone can punt off the competition!

 

[teabagyokel]

He does lack a certain etiquette. I was impressed on Sunday with Maldonado. He's not the first to crash from a promising position; he has again shown his ability to get to the promising position. He's starting to make me reevaluate his talent.

 

[Bill Boddy]

He had the probability of bringing home more points than Williams scored in the whole of last season and blew it. Hopefully he will learn how to do that.