Pastor Maldonado

Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (born 9 March 1985 in Maracay, Venezuela) is a Formula One driver who formerly drove for alongside Romain Grosjean. Maldonado made his F1 debut at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix driving for , becoming the first Venezuelan driver in Formula One since Johnny Cecotto in 1984.
At the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, four weeks after the 70th birthday of team boss, Sir Frank Williams, Maldonado secured a surprising victory from pole position. The win was Maldonado's first ever, and Williams' first win since the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix.
After a disappointing season in which the Venezuelan scored only a single point, he joined Romain Grosjean at Lotus for , with his supposed permanent car number being #3, but later switched to #13, breaking Formula One tradition, and was only the third ever Formula One driver to use number 13, after Moises Solana in and Divina Galica in . He became the first Formula One driver to score with the number at the 2014 United States Grand Prix.
==Formula 1 Career==
===Williams===
====2011====
﻿In December 2010, it was announced that Maldonado would drive for the Williams team in 2011 alongside Rubens Barrichello, replacing Nico Hülkenberg, who was moving to as a test driver. Whilst Maldonado was making his debut, Barrichello was the most experienced driver and in his 19th season of Formula One.
In his first race at Australia, Maldonado was the first retirement all year because of transmission problems. He also retired in Malaysia when an engine failure ended his race. China saw his first classified finish, 18th in the race. In Turkey, Maldonado finished 17th. He finished in a much better position in Spain, in 15th. 
In Monaco, Maldonado was running in sixth place with five laps remaining, and on course for his first points, when Lewis Hamilton took him out of the race at the Sainte Dévote corner. Maldonado was still classified 18th in the standings, and teammate Barrichello finished 9th, giving the Williams team their first points of the season, however a potential double-points finish for the Wantage-based team was prevented. This marked the start of a rivalry between Hamilton and Maldonado.
In Canada, Maldonado spun out of the race, forcing him to retire. At Valencia, Maldonado still failed to score, finishing 18th, as his streak of bad results continued. Maldonado scored the first point of his career in the Belgian GP, finishing tenth. However, this proved to be the only point in his debut season.
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====2012====
Maldonado's 2012 season looked very promising following strong races in Melbourne and Sepang. In Australia, he had been running in the points following a good showing in qualifying, placing him 8th on the grid. However, after good battles over the lesser points places, Maldonado lost control and crashed on the final lap while fighting for 5th.
In Malaysia, Pastor's pace was good again in treacherous conditions. Having qualifying 11th, Maldonado found himself in contention for a place in the top ten. Unfortunately, his luck failed him again, and he was forced to retire on the penultimate lap with engine failure. He had been running 10th.
Maldonado's luck changed for the better in China, where another good showing saw him bring home his first points finish of the season. He finished 8th, scoring 4 World Championship points.
Bahrain was an unfortunate race during which Maldonado faced a grid penalty, setting him back to 21st on the grid. Following a good start at which he gained 5 places, Maldonado found himself battling the likes of Sergio Pérez and Paul di Resta for the midfield places. Never reached a top ten place before retiring on the 25th lap due to a puncture.
Williams then went to Spain celebrating the 70th birthday of team boss Sir Frank Williams. They also brought a lot of unexpected performance to the event, looking very strong in practice. In qualifying, team-mate Senna struggled and failed to make it past Q1. Maldonado, on the other hand was outstanding, setting the fastest time in Q2, and being beaten only by Lewis Hamilton in Q3. Maldonado was delighted at second place in qualifying, and his happiness was amplified a few hours later when Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from qualifying as he had stopped on track on his in-lap,Article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations: Competitors must ensure that a one litre sample of fuel may be taken from the car at any time during the Event. Except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the stewards of the meeting), if a sample of fuel is required after a practice session the car concerned must have first been driven back to the pits under its own power. () promoting Maldonado to his first ever F1 Pole position. In the race, Maldonado put on an impressive display, fighting off Fernando Alonso for most of the race, to claim his maiden race victory, Williams' first in more than 7 years.
====2013====
In 2013, Maldonado was beaten by his new team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the standings. While he finished 10th in Hungary and scored his sole point of the year. Bottas went two better and finished 8th in the United States, scoring four points, his maiden in F1. As neither would score again, Bottas was the better of the Williamses.
Maldonado would leave the team at the end of the year to join Lotus.
====2014====
Maldonado stunned the F1 paddock by announcing that his permanent number for 2014 and beyond would be 13, a number regularly avoided in FIA-sanctioned series.
This made him the first Formula One driver in 38 years to use the number and the third overall.
His season got off to a woeful start in Australia when his ERS failed, preventing him from finishing the race. His Lotus team-mate Romain Grosjean followed suit 14 laps later. Maldonado would also retire in Malaysia.
Then, he became the first driver to finish a Grand Prix with the number 13 when he finished 14th in Bahrain, despite an accident with Esteban Gutiérrez in which the Mexican's car was rolled over which earned Maldonado a 5-place grid penalty for the next race.
==Formula One Statistical Overview==
===Formula One Record===
Year 	Entrant 	Team 	WDC Points 	WDC Pos. 	Report
Youth Career 	Youth Career 	Youth Career 	Youth Career 	Youth Career 	Youth Career
2005 - 2006 	Renault Driver Development	Renault Driver Development	Renault Driver Development	Renault Driver Development	Renault Driver Development
Senior Career 	Senior Career 	Senior Career 	Senior Career 	Senior Career 	Senior Career
 	Minardi Cosworth 	 	Test Driver 	Test Driver 	Test Driver
–: Did not compete	–: Did not compete 	–: Did not compete 	–: Did not compete 	–: Did not compete 	–: Did not compete
 	HRT F1 Team 	 	Test Driver 	Test Driver 	Test Driver
 	AT&T Williams 	 	Test Driver 	Test Driver 	Test Driver
 	AT&T Williams 	 	1 	19th 	Report
 	Williams F1 Team 	 	45 	15th 	Report
 	Williams F1 Team 	 	1 	18th 	Report
 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	2 	16th 	Report
 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	27 	14th 	Report
===Statistics===
===Race Wins===
Win Number	Grand Prix
1 	2012 Spanish Grand Prix
===Career Results===
==Notes==
Category:Lotus F1 Drivers
Category:Williams Drivers
Category:Venezuelan Drivers
Category:2011 Début Drivers
Category:1985 births
Category:Living people