Pastor Maldonado
Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (born 9th March, 1985 in Maracay, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan Formula One driver currently driving for the British Airways Sauber F1 Team. A multiple-time Grand Prix winner and World Champion in 2019, Maldonado is considered one of the finest racers of his generation.
Racing Career
2011: KQ-Hyundai
After a very promising junior career, Maldonado would make his top-tier debut with the works KIA/Hyundai team in their debut season in Formula One - a year after their farcical F1RWRS in 2010. Maldonado would be a regular points scorer all season, his best being a fourth place in Monaco.
2012: Sauber
Maldonado's impressive form in 2011 saw him switch to Sauber for 2012, with Sergio Pérez heading in the opposite direction. Although Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton were the major protagonists in the championship, Maldonado would take a real step up in terms of form and snatch seven victories over the course of the season - with many of them coming in the later stages of the season when the Sauber had a upturn in form. Maldonado would finish his sophomore season in third place behind Hamilton and Vettel, but his performances in the latter stages of the season was enough for Sauber to take an unexpected Constructor's crown ahead of Red Bull and McLaren.
2013-2015: American excursion
Despite a superb 2012 for Maldonado, Sauber's signing of Robert Kubica from Mercedes meant that there was no place for him in the team.
With an attempt to join Caterham failing at the last hurdle, Maldonado would head stateside in 2013, taking in the early parts of the IndyCar Series with Panther Racing - his best result being a fourteenth place at Long Beach.
After struggling with IndyCar, Maldonado headed into NASCAR - sharing the #7 Florida Lottery Chevrolet of Tommy Baldwin Racing with regular driver Dave Blaney. A string of top-10 finishes for Maldonado saw him make the #7 seat his own in 2014, bringing sponsorship from PDVSA.
2015 saw Maldonado return to single-seater action again, taking part in a full season in the F1 Rejects Indy Championship Series with the Pole Star Racing Team. Maldonado's best results would be a pair of second places - including one in the United States 500 on Indianapolis - but he would finish in a lowly 26th position in the championship.
2016-2021: Sauber return
Sauber opted to bring Maldonado back to the grid in 2016 and the Venezuelan immediately repaid his team's faith in him by winning the first race of the season. This ended up being his only win of the year, but it seemed that little of his speed had disappeared.
Maldonado continued his winless run for the next two years but it was in 2019 when he finally delivered on his potential. Maldonado, along with Dean Stoneman, had the strongest package by far and Maldonado could barely be stopped - taking thirteen wins on his way to his first World Championship.
Maldonado's title win meant there was a severe lack of investment in the 2020 car which hampered Sauber for the season. Maldonado struggled in the early stages of the year but he'd recover with a flurry of podium finishes in the latter half of the year to finish the season in seventh place.
Things got worse in 2021. Sauber were completely off the pace and the most Maldonado could muster all year was three solitary tenth place finishes. Sensing that Sauber was increasingly becoming a dead-end performance wise, Maldonado opted to leave the team at the end of the year.
2022: Williams
Despite his efforts, Maldonado was left without a full-time seat. He opted to sign with Williams as their reserve driver, but negotiated a clause that meant he would get to race at the inaugural Venezuelan Grand Prix. However, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, regular driver Robert Shwartzman was unable to drive in the German Grand Prix, meaning Maldonado got the callup a race early. Proving he had lost none of his speed, the Venezuelan qualified three thousandths of a second behind his teammate Sérgio Sette Câmara and despite a collision with Kevin Magnussen at the beginning of the race, Maldonado came through to finish seventh - in front of Câmara - setting the fastest lap of the race to boot.
At the following race in Venezuela, Maldonado (replacing Câmara this time) would do even better. Starting in P5, he masterfully negotiated the increasingly wet conditions to lead home a Williams 1-2. The result was sensational - a Venezuelan driver winning the first Venezuelan Grand Prix. The crowd were absolutely jubilant as Maldonado took his place on the top step of the podium for the first time in three years.
Personal Life
Maldonado is an outspoken socialist and was a close friend of former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. In an interview with a Venezuelan newspaper, Maldonado expressed interest in running for public office once his racing career has finished.
Despite having raced in Europe for most of his career, Maldonado still lives in Venezuela for the majority of the year with a second home in Basel when there is a short turnaround between races.
Complete Formula One World Championship Grand Prix Results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Nokia KQ Motor Sports Hyundai | KQ-01 | Hyundai i001 2.4 V8 | BHR 1 Ret |
BHR 2 10 |
USA 1 Ret |
USA 2 19 |
JPN 1 6 |
JPN 2 Ret |
KOR 1 17 |
KOR 2 10 |
TUR 1 8 |
TUR 2 8 |
ESP 1 7 |
ESP 2 7 |
MON 1 14 |
MON 2 4 |
GBR 1 Ret |
GBR 2 Ret |
IRE 1 9 |
IRE 2 15 |
EUR 1 Ret |
EUR 2 12 |
GER 1 19 |
GER 2 10 |
HUN 1 16 |
HUN 2 18 |
ITA 1 11 |
ITA 2 9 |
URU 1 Ret |
URU 2 10 |
BRA 1 8 |
BRA 2 9 |
SIN 1 8 |
SIN 2 9 |
IND 1 13 |
IND 2 Ret |
ABU 1 10 |
ABU 2 Ret |
18th | 61 | ||
| 2012 | Sauber F1 Team | Sauber C30 | Ferrari Type 056 2.4 V8 | BHR 1 20 |
BHR 2 Ret |
MAL 1 4 |
MAL 2 Ret |
JPN 1 1 |
JPN 2 21 |
KOR 1 2 |
KOR 2 2 |
TUR 1 10 |
TUR 2 Ret |
EUR 1 11 |
EUR 2 11 |
MON 1 Ret |
MON 2 Ret |
GBR 1 12 |
GBR 2 4 |
CAN 1 Ret |
CAN 2 Ret |
USA 1 5 |
USA 2 14 |
GER 1 5 |
GER 2 Ret |
ESP 1 5 |
ESP 2 1 |
ITA 1 1 |
ITA 2 3 |
ABU 1 1 |
ABU 2 6 |
IND 1 1 |
IND 2 19 |
URU 1 1 |
URU 2 8 |
BRA 1 4 |
BRA 2 1 |
SIN 1 Ret |
SIN 2 3 |
3rd | 319 | ||
| 2016 | Canal+ Sauber F1 Team | Sauber C35 | Judd NV 1.6 I4t | BHR 1 1 |
BHR 2 8 |
IND 1 16 |
IND 2 3 |
BRA 1 11 |
BRA 2 6 |
MEX 1 Ret |
MEX 2 12 |
PAC 1 11 |
PAC 2 8 |
CYP 1 14 |
CYP 2 3 |
HUN 1 8 |
HUN 2 Ret |
GER 1 9 |
GER 2 Ret |
GBR 1 7 |
GBR 2 6 |
RUS 1 11 |
RUS 2 10 |
AUT 1 Ret |
AUT 2 10 |
ITA 1 Ret |
ITA 2 10 |
EUR 1 6 |
EUR 2 7 |
ESP 1 5 |
ESP 2 2 |
USA 1 9 |
USA 2 Ret |
ABU 1 15 |
ABU 2 Ret |
SIN 1 14 |
SIN 2 2 |
JPN 1 5 |
JPN 2 5 |
CHN 1 3 |
CHN 2 10 |
8th | 192 |
| 2017 | Canal+ Sauber F1 Team | Sauber C36 | Judd NV 1.6 I4t | USA 1 9 |
USA 2 7 |
JPN 1 7 |
JPN 2 3 |
IND 1 17 |
IND 2 Ret |
BHR 1 Ret |
BHR 2 12 |
CYP 1 5 |
CYP 2 6 |
HUN 1 Ret |
HUN 2 14 |
GER 1 10 |
GER 2 3 |
GBR 1 Ret |
GBR 2 11 |
AUS 1 3 |
AUS 2 5 |
PAC 1 3 |
PAC 2 5 |
MEX 1 4 |
MEX 2 Ret |
AUT 1 Ret |
AUT 2 3 |
ITA 1 7 |
ITA 2 Ret |
EUR 1 INJ |
EUR 2 INJ |
ESP 1 9 |
ESP 2 3 |
ABU 1 Ret |
ABU 2 4 |
RUS 1 C |
RUS 2 C |
BRA 1 7 |
BRA 2 19 |
CHN 1 3 |
CHN 2 3 |
5th | 225 |
| 2018 | Sauber F1 Team | Sauber C37 | Judd XI 1.6 I4t | USA 1 13 |
USA 2 6 |
JPN 1 7 |
JPN 2 6 |
BHR 1 13 |
BHR 2 5 |
TUR 1 7 |
TUR 2 7 |
CYP 1 2 |
CYP 2 15 |
MED 1 5 |
MED 2 6 |
GER 1 7 |
GER 2 10 |
FIN 1 Ret |
FIN 2 12 |
RUS 1 18 |
RUS 2 6 |
SIN 1 19 |
SIN 2 4 |
AUS 1 4 |
AUS 2 4 |
GBR 1 12 |
GBR 2 20 |
FRA 1 Ret |
FRA 2 3 |
NED 1 5 |
NED 2 8 |
HUN 1 11 |
HUN 2 Ret |
ABU 1 4 |
ABU 2 4 |
CHN 1 6 |
CHN 2 9 |
MEX 1 3 |
MEX 2 4 |
BRA 1 5 |
BRA 2 5 |
6th | 157 |
| 2019 | British Airways Sauber F1 Team | Sauber C38 | Judd XI 1.6 I4t | USA 1 1 |
USA 2 2 |
JPN 1 19 |
JPN 2 Ret |
AUS 1 1 |
AUS 2 9 |
BHR 1 2 |
BHR 2 1 |
TUR 1 1 |
TUR 2 3 |
CYP 1 1 |
CYP 2 3 |
SMR 1 Ret |
SMR 2 6 |
FIN 1 Ret |
FIN 2 Ret |
GER 1 4 |
GER 2 Ret |
JOR 1 1 |
JOR 2 2 |
GBR 1 1 |
GBR 2 Ret |
FRA 1 1 |
FRA 2 Ret |
NED 1 Ret |
NED 2 4 |
HUN 1 6 |
HUN 2 2 |
ABU 1 1 |
ABU 2 1 |
SIN 1 2 |
SIN 2 1 |
CHN 1 1 |
CHN 2 1 |
MEX 1 4 |
MEX 2 2 |
BRA 1 3 |
BRA 2 Ret |
1st | 333 |
| 2020 | British Airways Sauber F1 Team | Sauber C39 | Judd CFC HFC | AUS Ret |
BRA 9 |
ARG 9 |
CLE Ret |
BHR 16† |
TUR 9 |
CYP 9 |
FIN 7 |
NED Ret |
FRA‡ 6 |
GBR 6 |
JOR 6 |
GER 9 |
HUN 5 |
PAR 2 |
POR Ret |
ITA 2 |
RUS 3 |
SIN C |
JPN C |
IND Ret |
ABU 10 |
CHN 4 |
7th | 77.5 | |||||||||||||||
| 2021 | British Airways Sauber F1 Team | Sauber C40 | Judd CFC HFC | AUS Ret |
ARG Ret |
IND 10 |
BHR 14 |
CYP 10 |
NED 10 |
GER Ret |
PHI‡ 16 |
POR Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR 18† |
HUN 15 |
PAR Ret |
ITA 12 |
BEL Ret |
NZL 13 |
SIN 11 |
ABU 11 |
CHN Ret |
19th | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | LATAM Williams Racing | Williams FW44 | Ferrari Tipo 012 HFC | AUS | NZL | ARG | IND | BHR | CYP | GER 7 |
VEN 1 |
PHI |
FRA |
GBR |
HUN |
PAR |
ITA |
BEL |
RUS |
SIN |
ABU |
CHN |
11th* | 19* |
| Sporting Accolades | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Sebastian Vettel |
Formula One World Champion 2019 |
Succeeded by: Diego Álvarez Torrente |