Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (; born 9 March 1985) is a Venezuelan former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Maldonado won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix with Williams.
After winning the GP2 Series in 2010 with Rapax, Maldonado competed in Formula One for Williams and Lotus, winning the in with the former. He was replaced by Kevin Magnussen at the reformed Renault team for , becoming a test driver for Pirelli. Maldonado returned to racing in 2018 at the FIA World Endurance Championship, finishing third in the LMP2 class with DragonSpeed before taking a class win at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2019.
Early life Maldonado was born on 9 March 1985 in Maracay, Venezuela. He showed an early interest in racing, preferring to watch his uncles driving their YMCA go-karts. When Maldonado was four years old, he started competing in BMX racing and won a national championship.
Career Karting Maldonado was invited to Kartódromo Carmencita Hernández in 1992 and was impressed with the karts that were running on the track. After that, he convinced his father to let him drive one. A year later, Maldonado had his first appearances in karting championships. Since at the time there was no proper category for his age, he competed against kids that were 10–12 years old.
Formula Renault Maldonado's first experience of formula racing was in Italy in 2003. He competed in the Italian Formula Renault Championship with Cram Competition, and was classified seventh in the drivers' championship. His notable results included three podium finishes and one pole position.Italian Formula Renault Championship, 2003 Retrieved on 1 February 2007. Cram Competition also entered one round of the German Formula Renault Championship at Oschersleben.2003 Participations in German Formula Renault Retrieved on 1 February 2007.
In 2004, Maldonado ran a dual programme in Italian and Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup with Cram Competition. He won the Italian title, with eight wins and six pole positions from seventeen starts.2004 Participations Retrieved on 1 February 2007. In the European championship, he was classified eighth overall, with two wins.2004 European Formula Renault standings Retrieved on 1 February 2007. Maldonado also found the time to enter one round of the now defunct Formula Renault V6 Eurocup at Spa-Francorchamps, with a best finish of fifth place.2004 Participations Retrieved on 1 February 2007.
In November 2004, Maldonado was given an opportunity to test with the Minardi Formula One team at Misano in Italy.Minardi tests Maldonado at Misano Retrieved on 1 February 2007. The team's former owner, Giancarlo Minardi, was present at the test and commented positively about Maldonado's performance.Albers quick at Misano Retrieved on 1 February 2007.
Italian F3000 In 2005, Maldonado progressed out of Formula Renault, but did not get the opportunity to complete a full season in any one series. He made four starts in the Italian F3000 Championship with Sighinolfi Auto Racing, in which one race win at the Autodromo dell'Umbria was enough to finish ninth overall.2005 F3000 Participations Retrieved on 1 February 2007. He also entered nine races (and made seven starts) in the Spanish-based World Series by Renault, with a best finish of seventh.2005 WSR Participations Retrieved on 1 February 2007. However, his participation in the WSR was marred by 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.
Formula Renault 3.5 Maldonado secured a full-time drive in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Draco Racing in 2006. He was classified third overall, with three race wins, six further podium finishes, and five pole positions.2006 WSR Participations Retrieved on 1 February 2007.WSR 2006 Drivers' Championship Retrieved on 1 February 2007.
In a season that was marked by controversy, Maldonado could have won the title were it not for a disqualification from first place at Misano for a technical infringement.Penalties hand victory to Vettel Retrieved on 1 February 2007. Draco Racing lodged an appeal and the results of the championship remained provisional until Italy's National Court of Appeal for Motorsport upheld the stewards' decision at a hearing in January 2007.Danielsson confirmed as champion Retrieved on 1 February 2007. The lost fifteen points would have been enough to move him up from third to first in the standings, ahead of Alx Danielsson and Borja García.
GP2 Series Maldonado's performances in FR3.5 were enough to attract the interest of GP2 teams, and he signed a contract to drive for Trident Racing in 2007 after a successful test in late 2006.Maldonado confirmed at Trident Retrieved on 1 February 2007. He took his first victory in only his fourth race in the series with a commanding win at Monaco. However, he had to miss the final four rounds of the season after breaking a collarbone during training, leaving him outside the championship top-ten.
Maldonado moved to the Piquet Sports team for 2008, his second year in the series. At midseason, he had two poles and two podiums. He had a farcical sprint race in the wet at Silverstone – he stalled on the dummy grid, picked up a penalty for speeding in the pitlane as he joined the race, another penalty for passing under yellow flags, and crashed into Adrián Vallés and Kamui Kobayashi on the final lap. He started at the back of the grid for the Hungary feature race, but he moved up to finish fifth after staying out for longer than any other driver, and setting a succession of quick laps on these worn tyres. Four podium finishes—including a win at Spa—in the final six races saw him rise to fifth place in the drivers' championship by the end of the season.
Maldonado signed to drive for the ART Grand Prix team during the 2009 season. As part of the deal, he also joined the team for three rounds of the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series. Maldonado was often overshadowed by team-mate and 2009 champion Nico Hülkenberg, but Maldonado still finished sixth overall, helping ART to the teams title. He competed in the first round of the 2009 Euroseries 3000 season at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve for Teamcraft Motorsport to gain experience of the track for the GP2 season finale. Maldonado won the first race, having started from second position.
Maldonado drove for the Rapax Team in the 2010 GP2 Series alongside Luiz Razia. He clinched the Championship in the penultimate event at Monza, Maldonado won six consecutive feature races on his way to winning the title (from Istanbul Park to Spa), which also took him to a total of ten race victories in GP2, which is a series record. Maldonado finished sixteen points ahead of Barwa Addax's Sergio Pérez. Rapax also won the Teams' Championship, five points ahead of Barwa Addax.
Formula One Maldonado was a target for a Campos Meta seat in . Campos team principal Adrián Campos said that Bruno Senna's team mate could be Pedro de la Rosa, Vitaly Petrov or Maldonado, but the team's financial problems and change of ownership changed the situation, and Karun Chandhok got the drive. It was then reported that Maldonado was close to signing a deal to be test and reserve driver for the Stefan Grand Prix team, which attempted to compete in the 2010 season following the withdrawal of the US F1 Team, which left a theoretical space for another new team. Stefan was barred from competing in the 2010 season.
Williams (2011–2013) Towards the end of the 2010 season, Maldonado was linked to the Williams team for , replacing former GP2 team-mate Nico Hülkenberg alongside Rubens Barrichello. He took part in the end-of-season young driver test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, driving for Williams and Hispania Racing, the rebranded Campos team. On 15 November, Williams confirmed that Hülkenberg had been dropped from the team's 2011 line-up, and Maldonado was duly announced as his replacement on 1 December. In addition to his on-track record, Maldonado also brought sponsorship from the Venezuelan government (through the state-owned PDVSA oil company) to the team.
2011
Maldonado retired from his first race, the , due to transmission problems. In the , he failed to reach Q2 in qualifying and again dropped out of the race. He recorded his first finish in China, in eighteenth place. At the he reached Q3 for the first time, eventually qualifying in ninth position for the race. He made it into Q3 again in Monaco, qualifying eighth, and in the race was lying sixth with five laps remaining, when he collided with Lewis Hamilton, taking him out of the race. He then spun out of a very wet race in Canada. He then continued to have impressive qualifying pace with poor race pace at Britain, Germany, and Hungary, including a drive-through penalty at the latter for speeding in the pit lane. At the at Spa in qualifying, Maldonado was involved in an incident with Lewis Hamilton on an in-lap after Hamilton squeezed by him when both were on a hot lap. Maldonado appeared to swipe across Hamilton as they headed down to Eau Rouge. Maldonado received a five-place grid penalty for his actions and Hamilton a reprimand. But in the race he scored his first point in Formula One with a tenth-place finish. Maldonado did not score any more points for the rest of the season, nor did he reach Q3 for the rest of the season. His poor end to the season was magnified in Abu Dhabi; where he qualified 17th and started 23rd (after a ten-place grid penalty for using a ninth engine), and served a drive-through, and later a 30-second time penalty after the race, both for ignoring blue flags.
Maldonado finished nineteenth in the Drivers' Championship and on 1 December 2011, it was confirmed that he would be retained by Williams for the season.
2012
Maldonado began the season alongside Brazil's Bruno Senna, for Williams. He started the season with promising pace, qualifying eighth for the . In the race, he was running strongly until he crashed out on the final lap, fighting with Fernando Alonso for fifth position. In the , Maldonado retired in the closing stages of the race while running in the points. He scored his first points of the season by finishing eighth in China. A puncture ended his race in Bahrain, after he qualified in seventeenth position. At the , Maldonado qualified second, next to Lewis Hamilton on the front row of the grid after strong pace from his Williams car during the race weekend. Maldonado was later promoted to his first pole position in his Formula One career after Hamilton was excluded from the results of qualifying, due to having insufficient fuel in his car. Maldonado was beaten to the first corner by Fernando Alonso, but regained the lead after the second round of pit stops. Maldonado held his lead after the third pit-stop phase, and held off Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen to win, becoming the first Venezuelan driver to finish on a Grand Prix podium in the process. He remains the most recent Williams driver to win a race . During post-race celebrations, a fire engulfed the Williams pit, and Maldonado was seen carrying his cousin to safety.