Maldonado: F1 has become “like GP2”
Recent winner of the Spanish Grand Prix, Pastor Maldonado reflected on the start of a particularly tight season but also wanted to express his position on the Pirelli tires.
At the center of attention after his victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, Pastor Maldonado, who became the first Venezuelan to win a Formula 1 race and notably lifted Williams out of a slump, with their last victory dating back to the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2004, shared his thoughts on the season: « The season is unpredictable. I think it’s more competitive: it’s become like GP2. It’s become very concentrated [and] drivers can make the difference. It’s a bit boring when you see only one car winning. » As a reminder, Maldonado spent three seasons in the GP2 championship before moving up to Formula 1 after winning the title in that category in 2010.
The current season has indeed resulted in a particularly unusual situation, as five different drivers have won five Grand Prix on five different machines: Jenson Button (McLaren) in Australia, Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) in Malaysia, Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) in China, Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) in Bahrain, and Pastor Maldonado (Williams) in Spain. This start to the year is reminiscent of the 1983 season, the only season before 2012 marked by such heterogeneity.
If Maldonado’s performance in his Williams has been widely praised, the question that arises is about continuity. The Venezuelan is banking on the close competition to aim for the top step of the podium again as early as next week in the Principality: « We will do our best. As you can see, the teams are very close, the championship is very tight, and the gaps are very small. […] We are constantly improving. For now, we don’t have the fastest car on the track, but we are doing our best, and why not [win again]? F1 changes all the time. It will be difficult [to win in Monaco], but we will try again. »
Regarding Pirelli tires, at the center of a debate among several figures in the discipline, the Williams driver clearly opposes Michael Schumacher or Dietrich Mateschitz: The degradation of the tires is quite significant, and it’s true that you have to manage them. It’s part of racing, and it’s the same for everyone. There are no easy races. We have to adapt to the tires, the rules, the car.
Finally, asked about his start to the season, Pastor Maldonado reminisced about the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, during which he held sixth place for a long time and gave Fernando Alonso a hard time before crashing in the final lap: « I am more experienced. In Australia, I “overdrove” because I wanted that fifth place. We were very motivated because you cannot imagine the moments we went through last year in the team. It was very difficult for us and we saw that the car’s performance was good [during winter testing]. We were attacking, pushing very hard, but that’s racing. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn’t. »
