F1 Calamity Pastor Maldonado Is At It Again In China GP Practice

Image source: Lotus F1 Team

Pastor Maldonado is Formula 1's pantomime villain right now, and he dented his reputation further during Friday practice for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix with some hilariously embarrassing mistakes.

Don't get me wrong, the Venezuelan is a fast driver (you don't win a Formula 1 race without some natural talent) but that is only when he manages to keep the car on the circuit, which often isn't the case.

He also seems to be an incredibly nice guy out of the car, but that doesn't change his reputation for being wild and aggressive behind the wheel. The last race in Bahrain is a prime example, after he pitched Esteban Gutierrez into the scary barrel-roll you see above.

And 'Crashtor' was it again, this time at the Shanghai International Circuit, on Friday. In first practice he became distracted after looking down at his steering wheel to change a setting and took a trip through the gravel, eventually spinning his Lotus E22.

And that wasn't all. Mid-way through the second session, he locked up under braking for the pit lane entry, took a trip through the kitty litter and hit the wall, damaging the nose and front-right corner of his car.

We're willing to bet this isn't the last we hear from Maldonado this race weekend.