Here’s a question for you. If you were starting a new Formula One team, is there any amount of money that would make you choose Pastor Maldonado as one of your drivers?
In September, around the time of the Singapore Grand Prix, Lotus announced that Maldonado would be staying with the Enstone squad in 2016. This left the door open for speculation about the future of Romain Grosjean, before his drive for Haas was announced.
Other names including former Formula One driver Jean-Eric Vergne and GP3 champ Esteban Ocon were linked with the second Lotus seat before the kiss of death was slapped on Jolyon Palmer.
In a two-horse race you’d think that would be the end of it, yet Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn claimed last week that, “We will wait a few weeks. I refer to a meeting in January 2016, when we will explain the organisation, goals, strategy and we will also talk about drivers and partner.”
Ghosn was most likely talking about test and reserve drivers, however Renault’s long-running association with oil and gas corporation Total is seemingly at loggerheads with Maldonado’s main backer PDVSA.
Current Lotus chief executive Matthew Carter has indicated that the drivers will line up next year as announced, saying “the contracts have been agreed with Renault,” and “Pastor and his funds are part and parcel of Renault’s plans certainly for the next 12 months”.
Yet it demands the following speculation; just how long Maldonado has left in the sport after next season.
The financial gusher that PDVSA provides has been more than enough to grease the palms of Lotus and Williams before them, the team with which Maldonado claimed his solitary, incongruous victory in the sport.
Without the might of Venezuelan oil at this disposal, poor old Maldonado would have a tough time justifying his position in the team. It’s not that he’s particularly slow, but his record for clumsy incidents has earned him a certain reputation among both drivers and fans. It’s the kind of stink that has suffocated drivers with far more talent than he possesses.
Social media, in particular, ridicules him mercilessly. Even in Abu Dhabi, when Fernando Alonso slid into the side of him and knocked him out of the race, Twitter exploded with Maldonado memes.
Websites like Has Maldonado Crashed Today keep the average Joe on the street informed about whether he’s crashed that day. It has become so prominent that it has been mentioned by the Sky commentary team a number of times, and I’m sure the ads help the website owner turn a handy profit.
And if you’re thinking that Maldonado has been hard done by, it’s worth remembering that in 2005 he was banned for life from competing in Monaco while driving in the Renault World Series.
Maldonado ignored waved yellow flags and hit a marshal, leaving him with a broken back, and it was only when his wealthy father stepped in and offered to cover all medical costs that Maldonado was granted clemency to race in the principality.
Whether Monaco still has a place on the modern Formula One calendar is an argument for another day, but one thing is for certain – the choice between keeping Maldonado or Monaco is no choice at all.
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