Pastor Maldonado
Pastor Maldonado
Pastor Rafael Maldonado Mottais a Venezuelan racing driver, who competed in Formula One for the Williamsand Lotusteams...
NationalityVenezuelan
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth10 March 1985
CityMaracay, Venezuela
CountryVenezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
inherited
Having competed themselves, my father and my uncle are very passionate about motorsport, so I inherited it from them.
came compete decided europe experience formula great italian move outside
After karting in Venezuela, I came to Europe in 1998 to compete in international kart races, which was great for me to get experience racing outside my country. After consistently being at the top, I decided to move to Italian Formula Renault.
age circuit city five four gave home minutes reached three
In my city of Maracay, there is a go kart circuit about five minutes from my home. When I was about three or four years old, I said I wanted to race, but I was too young; then, when I reached the age of seven, my father gave me a kart and we started from there.
country hard normal pushing south
I'm used to having a lot of criticism. It's normal. It's normal when you come from South America, when you have a country pushing very hard in your back.
atmosphere best built family freely friendly good help people relationships track williams work
Williams really does feel like a family, and I have built up very good relationships with people here; in fact, some of my best friends work for Williams. A friendly atmosphere can really help on the track as well because I feel like I can communicate freely with the team.
We live in a free world, so everyone can say whatever.
f1 honour williams
Williams is one of the big names in F1 with a really strong pedigree, so it is an honour to be driving for them.
accept best deliver looking
I did some mistakes; I accept that - I always accept my mistakes. For sure, we are looking forward to improve, to deliver my best as always.
best car close maximum
I just want to do my best, to be as close to the top as I can, and to get the maximum out of the car.
career early f1
As a driver, you always dream of winning a F1 race, and to win so early on in my career was very special.
past race should-have
That was a frustrating race for me. I pushed as hard as possible at the start on the medium tyres whilst everyone around me was on the grippier soft compound rubber. Once I moved to the soft tyres I was able to set the race's then fastest lap so things looked good with our strategy. Unfortunately the engine anti-kill triggered when I came in to make my final pit stop which cost me a lot of time. It's frustrating as we should have finished strongly. My focus is now Barcelona where I've delivered very strongly in the past.
thinking car temperature
I think in my car somebody is playing with the pressure and the temperatures,
training ifs
You can always improve your fitness if you keep training.