Maldonado at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. |
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| Born | 9 March 1985 Maracay, Venezuela |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality | Venezuelan |
| 2012 team | Williams-Renault |
| 2012 car # | 18 |
| Races | 19 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 1 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First race | 2011 Australian Grand Prix |
| Last race | 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| 2011 position | 19th (1 pt) |
Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (born March 9, 1985 in Maracay) is a Venezuelan Formula One driver. Before making his Formula One debut in 2011, he won the 2010 GP2 championship.
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Maldonado's first experience of formula racing began in Italy in 2003. He competed in the Italian Formula Renault Championship with Cram Competition, and was classified seventh in the drivers' championship. His notable results included three podium finishes and one pole position.[1] Cram Competition also entered one round of the German Formula Renault Championship at Oschersleben.[2]
In 2004, Maldonado ran a dual programme in Italian and European Formula Renault with Cram Competition. He won the Italian title, with eight wins and six pole positions from seventeen starts.[3] In the European championship, he was classified eighth overall, with two wins.[4] Maldonado also found the time to enter one round of the now defunct Formula Renault V6 Eurocup at Spa-Francorchamps, with a best finish of fifth place.[5]
In November 2004, Maldonado was given an opportunity to test with the Minardi Formula One team at Misano in Italy.[6] The team's former owner, Giancarlo Minardi, was present at the test and commented positively about Maldonado's performance.[7]
In 2005, Maldonado progressed out of Formula Renault, but did not get the opportunity to complete a full season in any one series. He made four starts in the Italian F3000 Championship with Sighinolfi Auto Racing, in which one race win was enough to finish ninth overall.[8] He also entered nine races (and made seven starts) in the Spanish-based World Series by Renault, with a best finish of seventh.[9] However, his participation in the WSR was marred by a four-race ban for dangerous driving. He failed to slow down at the scene of an accident at Monaco, despite the presence of warning flags, and struck and seriously injured a marshal.[10]
Maldonado secured a full-time drive in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Draco Racing in 2006. He was classified third overall, with three race wins, six further podium finishes, and five pole positions.[11][12]
However, in a season that was marked by controversy, Maldonado could have won the title were it not for a disqualification from first place at Misano for a technical infringement.[13] Draco Racing lodged an appeal and the results of the championship remained provisional until Italy's National Court of Appeal for Motorsport upheld the stewards' decision at a hearing in January 2007.[14] The lost fifteen points would have been enough to move him up from third to first in the standings, ahead of Alx Danielsson and Borja García.
Maldonado's performances in FR3.5 were enough to attract the interest of GP2 teams, and he signed a contract to drive for Trident Racing in 2007 after a successful test in late 2006.[15] He took his first victory in only his fourth race in the series with a commanding win at Monaco. However, he had to miss the final four rounds of the season after breaking a collarbone during training, leaving him outside the championship top 10.[16] He moved to the Piquet Sports team for 2008, his second year in the series. At midseason he had two poles and two podiums. He had a farcical sprint race in the wet at Silverstone - he stalled on the dummy grid, picked up a penalty for speeding in the pitlane as he joined the race, another penalty for passing under yellow flags, and crashed into Adrián Vallés and Kamui Kobayashi on the final lap. He started at the back of the grid for the Hungary feature race, but he moved up to finish fifth after staying out for longer than any other driver, and setting a succession of quick laps on these worn tyres. Four podium finishes—including a win at Spa—in the final six races saw him rise to fifth place in the drivers' championship by the end of the season.
He signed to drive for the ART Grand Prix team during the 2009 season.[17] As part of the deal, he also joined the team for three rounds of the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season.[18] Maldonado was often overshadowed by team-mate and 2009 champion Nico Hülkenberg, but Maldonado still finished sixth overall, helping ART to the teams title.
He competed in the first round of the 2009 Euroseries 3000 season at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve to gain experience of the track for the GP2 Series finale. Maldonado won the first race, having started from second position.[19]
Maldonado drove for the Rapax Team in the 2010 GP2 Series season alongside Luiz Razia. He clinched the Championship in the penultimate event at Monza.
Maldonado was a target for a Campos Meta seat in 2010. Campos team principal Adrian Campos said that Bruno Senna's team mate could be Pedro de la Rosa, Vitaly Petrov or Maldonado, but the team's financial problems and change of ownership changed the situation, and Karun Chandhok got the drive. It was then reported that Maldonado was close to signing a deal to be test and reserve driver for the Stefan Grand Prix team, which attempted to compete in the 2010 season following the withdrawal of the US F1 Team, which left a theoretical space for another new team.[20] Stefan was barred from competing in the 2010 season.
Towards the end of the 2010 season, Maldonado was linked to the Williams team for 2011, replacing former GP2 team-mate Nico Hülkenberg alongside Rubens Barrichello. He took part in the end-of-season young driver test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, driving for Williams and Hispania Racing (the rebranded Campos team). On November 15, Williams confirmed that Hülkenberg had been dropped from the team's 2011 line-up, and Maldonado was duly announced as his replacement on December 1.[21][22] In addition to his on-track record, Maldonado also brings sponsorship from the Venezuelan government (through the state-owned PDVSA oil company) to the team.[23]
Maldonado retired from his first race, the Australian Grand Prix, due to transmission problems. In the Malaysian Grand Prix, he failed to reach Q2 in qualifying and again dropped out of the race. He recorded his first finish in China, in 18th place. At the Spanish GP he reached Q3 for the first time, eventually qualifying in ninth position for the race. He made it into Q3 again in Monaco, qualifying eighth, and in the race was lying sixth with five laps remaining, when he collided with Lewis Hamilton, taking him out of the race. He then spun out of a very wet race in Canada. He then continued to have impressive qualifying pace with poor race pace at Britain, Germany, and Hungary, including a drive-through penalty at the latter for speeding in the pit lane. At the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa in qualifying, Maldonado was involved in an incident with Lewis Hamilton on an in-lap after Hamilton squeezed by him when both were on a hot lap. Maldonado appeared to swipe across Hamilton as they headed down to Eau Rouge. Maldonado received a five-place grid penalty for his actions and Hamilton a reprimand. But in the race he scored his first point in Formula One with a 10th place finish. Maldonado did not score any more points for the rest of the season, nor did he reach Q3 for the rest of the season. His poor end to the season was magnified in Abu Dhabi; where he qualified 17th and started 23rd (after a 10-place grid penalty for using a 9th engine), and served a drive-through, and later a 30-second time penalty after the race, both for ignoring blue flags.
Maldonado finished 19th in the Drivers' Championship and on 1 December 2011, it was confirmed that Maldonado will be retained by Williams for the 2012 season.[24]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Trident Racing | BHR FEA DNS |
BHR SPR 16 |
ESP FEA Ret |
ESP SPR 17 |
MON FEA 1 |
FRA FEA 10 |
FRA SPR 8 |
GBR FEA 7 |
GBR SPR 2 |
GER FEA 6 |
GER SPR 4 |
HUN FEA Ret |
HUN SPR Ret |
TUR FEA |
TUR SPR |
ITA FEA |
ITA SPR |
BEL FEA |
BEL SPR |
VAL FEA |
VAL SPR |
11th | 25 |
| 2008 | Piquet Sports | ESP FEA 12 |
ESP SPR Ret |
TUR FEA Ret |
TUR SPR Ret |
MON FEA 2 |
MON SPR Ret |
FRA FEA 3 |
FRA SPR 7 |
GBR FEA Ret |
GBR SPR 15 |
GER FEA 6 |
GER SPR 17 |
HUN FEA 5 |
HUN SPR 18 |
EUR FEA 2 |
EUR SPR Ret |
BEL FEA 3 |
BEL SPR 1 |
ITA FEA 2 |
ITA SPR 4 |
5th | 60 | |
| 2009 | ART Grand Prix | ESP FEA 5 |
ESP SPR 6 |
MON FEA 8 |
MON SPR 1 |
TUR FEA 6 |
TUR SPR 5 |
GBR FEA 7 |
GBR SPR 1 |
GER FEA Ret |
GER SPR 9 |
HUN FEA 4 |
HUN SPR Ret |
VAL FEA DSQ |
VAL SPR 8 |
BEL FEA 4 |
BEL SPR Ret |
ITA FEA Ret |
ITA SPR 15 |
POR FEA 11 |
POR SPR 20 |
6th | 36 | |
| 2010 | Rapax Team | ESP FEA 6 |
ESP SPR 3 |
MON FEA 2 |
MON SPR 11 |
TUR FEA 1 |
TUR SPR 6 |
VAL FEA 1 |
VAL SPR 4 |
GBR FEA 1 |
GBR SPR 4 |
GER FEA 1 |
GER SPR 20 |
HUN FEA 1 |
HUN SPR DSQ |
BEL FEA 1 |
BEL SPR Ret |
ITA FEA Ret |
ITA SPR Ret |
ABU FEA 17 |
ABU SPR 9 |
1st | 87 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | ART Grand Prix | CHN FEA |
CHN SPR |
ABU FEA Ret |
ABU SPR C |
BHR1 FEA |
BHR1 SPR |
QAT FEA |
QAT SPR |
MYS FEA 7 |
MYS SPR 2 |
BHR2 FEA Ret |
BHR2 SPR Ret |
15th | 7 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | AT&T Williams | Williams FW33 | Cosworth CA2011 2.4 V8 | AUS Ret |
MAL Ret |
CHN 18 |
TUR 17 |
ESP 15 |
MON 18† |
CAN Ret |
EUR 18 |
GBR 14 |
GER 14 |
HUN 16 |
BEL 10 |
ITA 11 |
SIN 11 |
JPN 14 |
KOR Ret |
IND Ret |
ABU 14 |
BRA Ret |
19th | 1 |
† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Maldonado is an outspoken political figure, which is strange in the racing world-except for Juan Manuel Fangio and co. He considers himself a socialist and is a friend of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.[25]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Toni Vilander |
Italian Formula Renault 2.0 Winter Series Champion 2003 |
Succeeded by Mikhail Aleshin |
| Preceded by Franck Perera |
Italian Formula Renault champion 2004 |
Succeeded by Kamui Kobayashi |
| Preceded by Nico Hülkenberg |
GP2 Series Champion 2010 |
Succeeded by Romain Grosjean |
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