Pastor Maldonado surprised Frank Williams
After Pastor Maldonado's victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, Frank Williams admitted to being surprised by his driver's performance and did not hide that the sponsors played a role in his hiring, even though it was not decisive.
By securing his very first victory in Formula One at the Spanish Grand Prix, Pastor Maldonado proved many of his detractors wrong, who saw him only as a “pay driver” thanks to the 35 million euros annually brought to the Grove team by the sponsorship of the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA.
When asked if Pastor Maldonado’s signing was a financial matter, Sir Frank Williams admits: « Yes, to some extent, I don’t deny it. But if we had thought he was useless, he wouldn’t have joined the team, no matter how much money he had. He did a very good job in GP2 and deserved his place in the team, with or without the money. The truth is, if you don’t have the money, you can’t race in Formula One. »
The iconic head of the Williams team, however, admits his surprise at his driver’s performance: « He’s a real race driver. I’m simply amazed at how he managed to keep control and didn’t make a single mistake. […] He was calm on the radio, all along. After what we saw in GP2 and in qualifications, in Formula One, he is very skilled. It’s the first race he’s leading, and leading, and leading, and as the race goes on, you start putting more pressure on yourself not to think about the podium, not to think about what your mother will say, and not to think about what it will bring you. So you think about not crashing, not making mistakes, braking a little earlier, and taking care [of the car]. That’s what you have to do, and that’s what he did. »
Frank Williams also recognizes Pastor Maldonado’s potential and already seems to fear the covetousness: « His potential could indeed be considerable. We certainly cannot say that we had a car for the win. We had a very good car, and we would be sad to lose him. »
But if there’s one person who admits to always having believed in Pastor Maldonado, it’s Giancarlo Minardi, who was the first to give the Venezuelan driver his start behind the wheel of a Formula One car during tests organized at Misano in 2004: « I’m happy for Pastor: he has finally reached where I always thought he would. As the first to have believed in him, despite everything, the joy of his first pole position and first victory in Formula One leaves me with a tinge of regret because he’s not driving for me. After the Misano tests, several managers came to see me, all financially stronger than me, and they took him. But the joy of having first worked with another young talent remains intact, and I will continue to work on discovering others and helping them achieve their dreams.
