Pastor Maldonado, since joining the grid with Williams in 2011 has perhaps made a name for himself for maybe the wrong reasons to the point where he’s been affectionately nick-named “Crashtor Maldonado” and even had a website set up dedicated to the question “Has Maldonado Crashed Today?”
The Venezuelan’s career hasn't all just been one great big massive shunt-filled extravaganza, the fact he’s in his 5th season of Formula One is testament to that and I thought I’d share with you the comprehensive 13 mad moments of why we love and hate Pastor Maldonado.
13. First off he made the conscious decision to actually race with the number 13 for the rest of his career in Formula One. 13 was banned until the FIA introduced career numbers for 2014 and before it was banned it had a history of killing drivers! The Venezuelan’s reasoning behind choosing the number in an interview with Lotus F1 “The reason I choose the number 13 is because I like it.”
12. In his fourth ever GP2 race he took his 1st race win for Trident.
11. He has a habit of Crashing A LOT. So much so there’s countless compilations on YouTube here’s my favourite.
10. At the 2013 US GP he accused Williams of sabotaging his car as he’d decided to sign for Lotus. You could believe that, or that Valtterri Bottas is just a phenomenal talent in a car.
9. He crashes so often he’s one of just a handful of drivers that have managed to dump it in the pit lane.
8. First tested an F1 car 7 years before making his debut! He tested for Minardi in 2004 before joining the grid in 2011.
7. More than half of his total career points to date have come from one race result.
6. During the 2014 season finale he suffered an engine fire and his mechanics appeared to all be smiling and laughing live on TV. Were they just smiling and laughing knowing they didn’t have to fix the car this time and that it could be scrapped?
5. He finished the race (despite 3 penalty points, a 10 second stop go penalty and a 5 place grid penalty in China) but he still was involved in what was quite a spectacle which shall probably be forever remembered as the “Gutiérrez roll”
4. After 77 race starts 20 of those races ended for him with crashes not to mention other in race contact along with Qualifying and Free Practice shunts!
3. 20 in race shunts, only 8 points finishes to date! Yes he’s crashed out of more races than he’s finished in the points!
2. Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Romain Grosjean, Timo Glock and Nico Hülkenberg all have something in common with the Valiant Venezuelan. They're all GP2 champions. For all his crashes and madness, he’s actually won a very highly regarded championship fair and square.
1. Probably the maddest moment of his career has got to be the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, may I remind you after all the crashes, all the spins and all the burnt Venezuelan money, he’s actually won a race. Credit where credit’s due he did a bloody good job too with Alonso and Raikkonen breathing down his neck in the closing stages of the race.
Should he still be in Formula One? Was the 2012 win a fluke or is his number really proving to be unlucky for him? Let me know your thoughts and opinions!
Last edited by a moderator:
