The case of Pastor Maldonado

Pastor Maldonado’s front row qualifying performance, and a race drive which would certainly have netted him a top four finish, were among the highlights of the Singapore weekend.  The Venezuelan reminded everyone of his true ability.

 

Maldonado has a strong talent; he proved that before reached Formula One by winning series including the GP2 title, and no one can forget his astonishing drive in Spain this year when he converted pole position into a dominant victory.  Against Fernando Alonso.

 

Like many people, however, I have tended to concentrate most of the time on the mistakes Maldonado has made, particularly the enormous aggression which has seen him behave in an unacceptable manner.  Just ask Sergio Perez or Lewis Hamilton.  

 

His crash in Australia, when he was pushing too hard behind Alonso in the closing stages of the race, and his unnecessary collision with Hamilton in Valencia robbed him, and Williams, of much-need, strong results.

 

Controversy is nothing new for Maldonado, however. In 2005 he received a 4-race ban in the World Series by Renault for failing to slow down at the scene of an accident in Monaco, hitting and injuring a track marshal.  And in F1 he has usually been in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

 

Coming to Singapore Maldonado confirmed that he was taking a new approach.  Before Monza he even had his new philosophy added to his helmet.  ‘Less Trouble, More Speed’.

 

He was a man of his word.  The Singapore track is demanding, requiring all the precision we have come to expect from an unforgiving street circuit and offering no rest for the driver as they snake their cars around its 23 corners.  When Hamilton qualified on pole position with a 1m46.362s Alonso said he was ‘on another planet’. Well, Maldonado was only 0.44s slower around the 5km track, and a tenth of a second quicker than double World Champion Sebastian Vettel.  To my mind, that puts Maldonado on the same planet as two of the world’s greatest ever drivers.

 

Preparing for the race, like many TV commentators I wondered if Maldonado could avoid trouble at the start.  But he made a clean, tidy getaway, if anything being too cautious in allowing Vettel and Button to get past.  After that he maintained strong race pace until his Williams suffered hydraulic failure.  A desperately disappointing outcome.

 

Two other points to make about Pastor Maldonado’s season.  The first is that the Williams-Renault FW34 is a very impressive car and the team should be much higher up the Formula One World Championship for Constructors.  This is a car which should have won two or three Grands Prix by now.

 

The second is that Maldonado’s performances, and the sheer capability of the FW34, call into question the ability of Bruno Senna to sustain his career at the top level.  He has not had a good season and Singapore showed why.  Teams do not employ drivers to crash, and although accidents will invariably happen from time to time, Bruno’s weekend involved too much contact with the barrier; it destroyed their practice on Friday and ruined his qualifying. With Maldonado 2nd, Senna was in 17th after not even completing a flying lap in Q2. 

 

Singapore may well have been a turning point for both men.  For the Venezuelan it was a very positive step towards developing a career which will be remembered for the right reasons, while for his Brazilian team mate the very public mistakes over the weekend will have done little to keep his F1 dreams alive into 2013.