Breaking news
Formula 1
Maldonado "turned down" F1 race seat for 2017
Pastor Maldonado says he turned down the opportunity to return to Formula 1 this season because the seat offered to him wasn't competitive.
Lawrence Barretto
Published: May 21, 2017, 11:03 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Venezuelan was replaced by Kevin Magnussen at Renault ahead of the 2016 season, but had talks with a number of teams about a return this year and had his hopes raised when Nico Rosberg quit Mercedes.
But Maldonado says declined an offer to return and could not find an alternative that appealed.
"I have the experience and I had opportunities to come back here this year [in a race seat]," he told Motorsport.com.
"I was quite close to coming back but I decided not to. But if I don't have any good feeling, if I don't have any guarantees to do in the good way, it's better to stay away - so I turned them down."
Maldonado was personally sponsored by PDVSA, his country's state-owned oil and gas giant, to the tune of around $46 million per year.
PDVSA became involved in a dispute with Renault over payments that resulted in it opting to tear up its deal, leaving Maldonado without a seat.
The precarious state of the Venezuelan economy has cast doubts over that backing going forward, but Maldonado insists that is not a roadblock to his return.
"It's quite tough - there is up and downs in the economy and hopefully soon we can get out of this situation and the country will be strong again," said the 2012 Spanish GP winner.
"I don't think it's important - a return is still possible, it's not the only sponsor. I'm not here because I don't want to be right now."
Maldonado said he is not actively pursuing a return to F1 "at the moment" but said a return remains possible.
"I discovered there is something more interesting than F1 in life," he said. "It's not everything. But I'm missing it because I dedicated my entire life to motor racing - I started when I was six.
"When I wake up and decide 'OK, it's time to go back', I will."
When asked if he will do any racing this year, he said: "I will do something, but I don't know what."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Pirelli mule car running hurt Red Bull in 2017, says Horner
Next article Verstappen breaks lap record at Zandvoort during F1 demo
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lawrence Barretto
Sirotkin, Stroll to have two race engineers each
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sirotkin, Stroll to have two race engineers each
Hamilton "sacrifice" saved Mercedes an hour of testing
Formula 1
Formula 1
Hamilton "sacrifice" saved Mercedes an hour of testing
Kubica regrets being "too honest" about driving limitations
Formula 1
Formula 1
Kubica regrets being "too honest" about driving limitations
More from
Pastor Maldonado
Maldonado "expected" to join Ferrari after 2013 talks
Formula 1
Formula 1
Maldonado "expected" to join Ferrari after 2013 talks
Maldonado drops out of JOTA LMP2 line-up
WEC
WEC
Maldonado drops out of JOTA LMP2 line-up
Davidson, Maldonado switch to JOTA for 2019/20 WEC
WEC
WEC
Davidson, Maldonado switch to JOTA for 2019/20 WEC
Latest news
Colton Herta qualifies for F1 superlicence as Valtteri Bottas remains bullish on 2027 seat
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
8 min
Colton Herta qualifies for F1 superlicence as Valtteri Bottas remains bullish on 2027 seat
F1 Brazilian GP: Lando Norris tops FP1 as Colton Herta clinches superlicence
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
18 min
F1 Brazilian GP: Lando Norris tops FP1 as Colton Herta clinches superlicence
Kellymoss returns to IMSA WeatherTech championship full-time in 2027
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 19 min
Kellymoss returns to IMSA WeatherTech championship full-time in 2027
"Parked the truck in the paddock aged eight": Cairoli shares Kimi Antonelli anecdotes
DTM
DTM DTM 22 min
"Parked the truck in the paddock aged eight": Cairoli shares Kimi Antonelli anecdotes
Feature
Discover prime content
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Formula 1
By Pat Symonds
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1960s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1960s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe