85 replies to this topic

[Dennista]

He definitely had the raw pace. He looked quicker than Barrichello in his rookie season, and would have outscored him if Hamilton hadn't went for a crazy move in St Devote. I think he was in route to a 6th place in Monaco. Pace was never the issue with this guy. He simply was not adaptable, if things weren't in his sweet spot, he would just overdrive and do very questionable things. 

 

He needed better guidance. Had he been at a top team no doubt would have ended up being an equal to Montoya. Aggressive driver with a below par car does not work.  Aggressive driver with a race winning car, he would push it to the limit in clean air at the front.

[Zoetrope]

Does he mean that Verstappen will join Ferrari in 2020?   

[MikeV1987]

Lol, Ferrari were probably talking to many other drivers at the same time. That doesn't mean they were really serious about signing him.

[sopa]

That's a good point that Maldonado seemed fine, while leading out at front. Interestingly his tendency to overdrive while further down the field may be related to his "overoptimistic" character. Thought he was in range for the Ferrari seat? Thought he could outdrive the car?

[Roadhouse]

Good ol' Maldonado, an outspoken socialist, who's F1 seat was sponsored by the government of a not exactly prosper nation.

What's that saying again? Everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others. 

 

If you think you deserve that, it's not a big leap to think Ferrari offers you a seat.

 

/Not mean as a stab against socialism, just something I see as a testament of Maldonado's character.

[FLB]

Maldonado is probably keen to put his name in the media, as he has just left Jota in the FIA WEC (LMP2) and been replaced by Antonio Felix da Costa. He is currently without a drive as a result.

[derstatic]

Maldonado drove one really good weekend. It put him in the history books and he is a grand prix winner. Not many can say that. But really it was only that weekend and lots and lots of crashes, mistakes, bad decisions and just mediocracy. He had raw pace but could rarely string a weekend together. Doubt he was very close to a Ferrari race drive at any point. They had Massa and Alonso in 2013. Chose to replace Massa with Räikkönen. Don't see where Maldonado fits in that puzzle or how anyone except himself can think he is even close to the level of either of the other three.

[Beri]

Maldonado drove one really good weekend. It put him in the history books and he is a grand prix winner. Not many can say that. But really it was only that weekend and lots and lots of crashes, mistakes, bad decisions and just mediocracy. He had raw pace but could rarely string a weekend together. Doubt he was very close to a Ferrari race drive at any point. They had Massa and Alonso in 2013. Chose to replace Massa with Räikkönen. Don't see where Maldonado fits in that puzzle or how anyone except himself can think he is even close to the level of either of the other three.

108 if I'm not mistaken.

[P123]

Teams talk to lots of drivers. I'm more interested in Maldonado's idea that Williams were meant to have the best car they'd ever had in 2013....

[Spillage]

The funny thing is that this is the most notorious Maldonado incident but I don't think he was solely at fault for it - he was pretty much run out of road and forced over a high kerb.

The worst one for me was the one with a Force India (was it Di Resta?) at Spa, where he tried to come into the pits and just completely sideswiped the other car. I could hardly believe what I was seeing when I saw that.

J still find it a bit weird that he's the only South American to win a Grand Prix this decade.

Edited by Spillage, 05 September 2019 - 18:07.

[Taxi]

I dare to say he would have scored more than the 55 points Kimi did. And would have been fun seeing him crash a few times too. Tifosi would love him. 

[ANF]

My favourite Maldonado crashes are from 2014:




Well, the first one wasn't technically a crash.

Edited by ANF, 05 September 2019 - 19:10.

[Nathan]

I think at best he was a pawn in negotiations..

[masa90]

He had speed, sometime even racecraft. Otherwise he had so many flaws.

 

I believe he had a good career and hey a gp winner considering the obvious limitations he had as a racing driver.

 

Way too hot headed.

[Claymore25]

Speed and pace was not the problem with Maldonado but his inconsistency and his tend to overdrive the car resulting in his several mistakes among his career.

[Claymore25]

The funny thing is that this is the most notorious Maldonado incident but I don't think he was solely at fault for it - he was pretty much run out of road and forced over a high kerb.

The worst one for me was the one with a Force India (was it Di Resta?) at Spa, where he tried to come into the pits and just completely sideswiped the other car. I could hardly believe what I was seeing when I saw that.

J still find it a bit weird that he's the only South American to win a Grand Prix this decade.

 

 

Well, that's not surprising since Brazil and Argentina are the only country of South Americ who can develope and create drivers. Now, take financial problems for argentinians and having a bad line up for Brazil after Massa and Barrichello and that's no so surprising.

[Beri]

Well, that's not surprising since Brazil and Argentina are the only country of South Americ who can develope and create drivers. Now, take financial problems for argentinians and having a bad line up for Brazil after Massa and Barrichello and that's no so surprising.

Nasr, Senna, Massa, Barrichello, Di Grassi and Maldonado. There have been quite a few South American drivers this last decade. All had a respectable track record before entering F1.

[Anuity]

Wow. The hate towards Maldonado is sick.

1. He was a very quick drive
2. He is a nice guy, but you need to understand his emotional characater
3. I believe 100% that he had a meeting with Montezemolom and Domeniclli. I’m sure it happened , it’s not so weird after all. Doesn’t mean they considered him as the priority as they signed Kimi. But the story itself, I believe it happened.

I listened to all of his postcard, he is a nice and emotional guy. I understand that especially for British he may come across as rude/unlikeable but it always depends from which side you view the person and understand the cultural context.

[Imateria]

Wow. The hate towards Maldonado is sick.

1. He was a very quick drive
2. He is a nice guy, but you need to understand his emotional characater
3. I believe 100% that he had a meeting with Montezemolom and Domeniclli. I’m sure it happened , it’s not so weird after all. Doesn’t mean they considered him as the priority as they signed Kimi. But the story itself, I believe it happened.

I listened to all of his postcard, he is a nice and emotional guy. I understand that especially for British he may come across as rude/unlikeable but it always depends from which side you view the person and understand the cultural context.

I don't think anybody found him unlikable (other than Williams, when he started accusing them of sabatage), he was just far too erratic.

Edited by Imateria, 05 September 2019 - 22:09.

[Myrvold]

The worst one for me was the one with a Force India (was it Di Resta?) at Spa, where he tried to come into the pits and just completely sideswiped the other car. I could hardly believe what I was seeing when I saw that.

Twice he turned in to others on purpose in F1. Coupled with the Monaco incident in his youth, it's just the FIA's consistent lack of ability to take action that made him keep his license.

[SB]

Pastor Maldonado was the only driver that could have ended the Mercedes/Hamilton tyranny in Formula One. 

 

He certainly has done so !

 

https://youtu.be/Gqc2uK0sTQw?t=90

[Ramon69]

My God, I just read the news yesterday and now I have no doubts on one of the reasons we said goodbye to both di Montezemolo & Domenicalli back in 2014...

[Rinehart]

“It’s like [Max] Verstappen at the moment. Like Robert Kubica at his time. I was the guy at the time".

 

[blackmme]

I highly recommend listening to the Podcast it is terrifically entertaining (actually the entire series is and last weeks with Tony Brooks was wonderful).

 

Leaving aside the more controversial/funny memories and anecdotes one of the interesting things Pastor talked about was having the pressure of an entire nation on you, "You've one once now, why aren't you winning every race?"

Tom mentions it constantly throughout the the interview but Pastor's passion which often seemed to get the better of him shines through I thoroughly enjoyed it and certainly there weren't many dull moments with Pastor around.

 

Regards Mike

[sopa]

I wonder, how did the "negotiatons" with Luca di Montezemolo look like.

 

Luca: "Hi Pastor, nice to meet you."

Pastor: "Hello Luca. Great to see you. You know, my dream has always been to drive for Ferrari."

Luca: "Oh, nice to hear."

Pastor: "I would be so grateful if I could get an opportunity in your team. I have also the speed to deliver results."

Luca: "I see. Good to hear."

Pastor: "So what do you think? Would you hire me?"

Luca: "Well, we will see. Maybe we could find a position suitable to you in the Scuderia."

Pastor: "Awesome!"

 

Pastor *thinks* "Yeah, I gonna drive in Ferrari!!"

Luca *thinks* "At best this guy is gonna be our sim driver. That is, if he brings his PDVSA millions with him."

[F1matt]

Is there a driver in the history of the sport that wasn't going to drive for Ferrari? 

[Rodaknee]

Ferrari would have to  be really desperate to sign him up.  Money talks in F1, but it would never tame his temper.

 

 

In 2005 he received a four-race ban for dangerous driving. He failed to slow down at the scene of an accident at Monaco, despite the presence of warning flags, and struck and seriously injured a marshal.

Whilst driving in Formula One, Maldonado gained 4 penalty points in the 2014 season up to the British Grand Prix, only equalled by Jules Bianchi. He was also the most reprimanded Formula One driver in 2012, a clear 5 points ahead of his nearest rival, Michael Schumacher. In 2013 Maldonado also had 5 driver related reprimands, ranging from speeding in the pit-lane to causing collisions.
 

[Ross Stonefeld]

Thing is, they were only looking for a Massa replacement. And we'd have to assume to be number 2 to Alonso. And Pastor would have a crazy amount of money. PDVSA would conflict with Shell, but given it was government funding it would probably just be Venezuelan Tourism money or something. It seems unlikely but it's not actually that far out there.

 

He's either got the imagination of the US President that he had a meeting with LdM, or he did and something was up. 

[Jon83]

I wonder, how did the "negotiatons" with Luca di Montezemolo look like.

 

Luca: "Hi Pastor, nice to meet you."

Pastor: "Hello Luca. Great to see you. You know, my dream has always been to drive for Ferrari."

Luca: "Oh, nice to hear."

Pastor: "I would be so grateful if I could get an opportunity in your team. I have also the speed to deliver results."

Luca: "I see. Good to hear."

Pastor: "So what do you think? Would you hire me?"

Luca: "Well, we will see. Maybe we could find a position suitable to you in the Scuderia."

Pastor: "Awesome!"

 

Pastor *thinks* "Yeah, I gonna drive in Ferrari!!"

Luca *thinks* "At best this guy is gonna be our sim driver. That is, if he brings his PDVSA millions with him."

 

Luca also thinks "Nurse!"

[HP]

Somehow the J is missing in front of the PM.

 

Now if the interview had been with JPM, I'd bought the interest from Ferrari back then.

 

With PM, did someone at Ferrari trying to make a big joke at his expense?

[MikeTekRacing]

I am pretty sure a lot of drivers are considered as options and approached. Obviously we have no clue of the stack rank of those options.

He made a lot of mistakes and he had a lot of crashes. He was still pretty fast and talented. Not sure if he could improve his bad parts, he was missing a cool head...

[4444]

...McLaren cocked up with the fuel and ran out on the slowdown lap with Hamilton, running foul of a rule brought in to stop them from doing just that.

 

Was it possible for McLaren to not reveal that and hope the FIA would not find out about the ordeal?

[red stick]

Apologies to Glenn Frey and Don Henley:

 

Maldonado, why don't you come to your senses?
You been out strikin' fences for so long now
Oh, you're a quick one
And I know that you got your reasons
Without further seasoning you'll
Hurt others somehow.

 

Don't you draw the Queen of Diamonds, boy
She'll beat you if she's able
You know the Queen of Hearts is always your best bet.

 

Now, it seems to me some fine drives
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can't get.

 

Maldonado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home

 

And Ferrari, oh Ferrari, well that's just some people talkin'
Your prison is stalking rides that you’ll never own . . .

[Nathan]

Money talks in F1

 

Then Shell has a deep, booming voice.

[Ross Stonefeld]

PDVSA was government owned, and took surprisingly little space at Williams for their contribution size, I imagine that could have become a Venezuela Tourism sponsorship pretty easily if branding was the stumbling block. 

[cheekybru]

Can we have more Maldonado memes in this thread please?