Pastor Maldonado is a Venezuelan Formula One driver currently with the Williams team. Before making his Formula One debut in 2011, he won the 2010 GP2 championship and became the first Venezuelan to win a Formula One Grand Prix when he won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix from his first pole position.
Maldonado's first experience of formula racing began in Italy in 2003. He competed in the Italian Formula Renault Championship with Cram Competition, and was classified seventh in the drivers' championship. His notable results included three podium finishes and one pole position.
Maldonado was a target for a Campos Meta seat in 2010. Campos team principal Adrian Campos said that Bruno Senna's team mate could be Pedro de la Rosa, Vitaly Petrov or Maldonado, but the team's financial problems and change of ownership changed the situation, and Karun Chandhok got the drive.
It was then reported that Maldonado was close to signing a deal to be test and reserve driver for the Stefan Grand Prix team, which attempted to compete in the 2010 season following the withdrawal of the US F1 Team, which left a theoretical space for another new team
Towards the end of the 2010 season, Maldonado was linked to the Williams team for 2011, replacing former GP2 team-mate Nico Hülkenberg alongsideRubens Barrichello
On 28 November 2012, Maldonado was retained by Williams for the 2013 season, where he is partnered by Finnish rookie Valtteri Bottas.
At the start of the season Maldonado commented that the new FW35 chassis was a step back towards where the team were in 2011. He failed to make it out of the first qualifying session at the first race, the Australian Grand Prix, and qualified in 17th position, one place behind Bottas.
Source: DSX
