2011 end of term report – Pastor Maldonado

Pastor Maldonado made his debut in the F1 World Championship this season. It was not an easy task for the Venezuelan driver as the Williams FW33 didn’t come up to the team’s expectations. He still managed to impress on occasions and scored one point.

Season review:

Reigning GP2 Champion, Maldonado was signed by Williams to replace Nico Hulkenberg. The Venezuelan came with heavy financial backing from his country, especially from the national oil company PDVSA, which didn’t serve his image. He had to prove his worth and show his detractors he deserved his place in F1.

His debuts were difficult: he was forced to retire in Australia with a transmission problem. Then, in Malaysia, he made a mistake in Free Practice 2 and crashed in the tyre wall. He qualified in 18th position and retired from the race.

On the other side, Maldonado showed some sparks of good speed: he qualified three times in the top ten. He started in 9th position in Spain but finished the race in 15th position. At Monaco, he started eighth and was running in 6th place when he was taken out of the race by Lewis Hamilton. 7th on the starting grid at Silverstone, he finished the race in 14th position.

The rookie had a contrasting weekend in Belgium. On one hand he scored his first World Championship point but on the other hand he was involved in two incidents with Lewis Hamilton in qualifying and picked up a five place grid penalty.

The final part of the season was tough for the Williams driver who retired from the Korean and Indian races with mechanical problems. In Brazil, he made a mistake and ended his season in a tyre wall.

Conclusion:

Pastor Maldonado narrowly managed to score a point in his F1 rookie season. Although he regularly qualified higher than his experienced teammate Rubens Barrichello, the Venezuelan lacked consistency in the races.
He has been confirmed at Williams for 2012.

Highs:
—  Showed good speed in qualifying
—  Improved during the season
—  Proved he was more than a pay-driver

Lows:

—  Didn’t always perform in races
—  Collision with Hamilton in Belgium
—  Two crashes (Canada, Brazil)

Nextgen-Auto.com marks:
— Olivier Ferret : 14/20
— D.Thys : 13/20
— Sandrine Bouchard : 11/20
— Jean-Michel Setbon : 11/20
— Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 9/20
—  Total : 58/100