On the balance of it, Lotus F1 driver Pastor Maldonado may have had his share of crashes and altercations but 28 retirements in 96 or so races weren’t all his fault. Sure, no one wants to have retired from nearly 30% of the races they ran while in Formula 1 but then maybe that’s why the merest hint of dried-up funding from his sponsor, PDVSA, means the Venezuelan is being shown the door…even after the team announced his appointment for 2016.
Venezuela is going through serious turmoil and the dramatic drop in the price of oil has many believing that PDVSA has backed out of their £20m support that’s kept the young driver in the series and arguably the team afloat for the past couple of years.
Now the team is owned by Renault and the company isn’t as cash-starved as Lotus F1 were nor are they willing to soldier on with a driver of Maldonado’s caliber having lost the one driver they truly were keen on retaining in Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman left Lotus F1 just prior to the Renault buyout and joined Haas F1.
According to multiple sources, Maldonado will lose his seat to Kevin Magnussen who was seen touring the factory a few weeks ago. The Danish son of Jan Magnussen, a handy racer himself, was released from McLaren late last year and would be a good improvement to the team’s lineup given they are trying out first-time F1 driver Joylon Palmer.
Magnussen’s first full season in F1 was with McLaren and he was the team’s reserve driver for 2015 standing in for the first race in Australia for Fernando Alonso after the Spaniard battle “the wind” during a pre-season test and crashed receiving concussion.
In all fairness, not all of Pastor’s incidents were his fault but as an aggressive driver, he was usually at the epicenter of many altercations whether his fault or not. He just seemed to attract trouble. He became a mobile road hazard for many of the other drivers who learned to give him a wide berth and not out of respect.
The team will announce their new driver lineup and also reveal their 2016 challenger next week and Magnussen is set to be on the list and as it turns out, their most experienced driver.
Hat Tip: Sky Sports F1
The Saudi’s are finally seeing the fruits of their overproduction. Not only is it having a negative effect on non-Arab oil producers, but it’s also having an effect on motorsports. Maldonado isn’t the sole victim. Sarah Fisher is out of IndyCar racing now, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHQLQ1Rc_Js
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
(deep inhale)
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
I would have thought that Vergne would be a great candidate for Renault. Wonder why they went for Magnussen
….and all the Texas DPS law enforcement troopers breathed a sigh of relief as they cried, “THERE IS A GOD AFTER ALL!!!”
Well after the chuckling subsides reality will sink in – this is a nightmare for this website and podcast. NC is going to be like Tina Fey during quiet periods in Sarah Palin’s life without this source of material.
No – the “it’s total BS” sound bite will be put into overdrive
It is often said ‘all publicity is good publicity’, but it’s hard to believe that PDVSA and Venezuela got a good return on their investment in Pastor’s career. Basiz will genuinely miss Pastor, the rest of us will miss him until someone else takes a firm grip on the ‘donkey of the race’ trophy – step forward Will Stevens, your moment awaits ;-)
I will only miss him when I take evasive action to keep him from hitting me.
You’ll have to be sharp, many have tried and failed Pastor-avoidance
There is a website that is in more trouble than F1B
http://hasmaldonadocrashedtoday.com/
While we may be rejoicing on the departure of Maldonado in Formula One at the moment, the overproduction of crude oil worldwide has caused a major collapse in the pricing per barrel during a 3-year span. Sarah Fisher and Maldonado may be the genesis of another exodus, only time will tell if the entire oil industry become victims of their own success and force to bail on motorsport itself.
According to ESPN F1 & Motorsport.com, Maldonado has ONE year to get that finance straight, but seriously, what he really needs is a sports PSYCHOLOGIST to fix his ineptitude in taking responsibility for TWO years before getting back on the wheels.
http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/14696750/pastor-maldonado-looks-2017-f1-return
About time… He could have been good….. but just too inconsistent he has been taking up a valuable seat for too long