It's Official: No Pastor Maldonado On The 2016 F1 Grid

Pastor Maldonado confirmed on a social media post that he will not be racing in F1 this season and has left the Renault team
It's Official: No Pastor Maldonado On The 2016 F1 Grid

So there we have it, official confirmation from Pastor Maldonado himself. The Venezuelan driver will not be on the F1 grid in 2016 after exiting the Renault team.

Rumours about Maldonado’s future in F1 picked up pace recently after his sponsor PDVSA hit trouble, due to corruption scandals, the drop in oil prices and late payments.

It's Official: No Pastor Maldonado On The 2016 F1 Grid

Maldonado is a race winner in F1, after finishing first at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, but his unpredictable, erratic driving style and antics have given the 30-year-old a villainous reputation in the sport.

Now he has confirmed that he will not be racing in F1 this season. He joined the grid in 2011 with Williams but switched to Lotus for the 2014 campaign. He is expected to be replaced at the team, which was recently taken over (again) by Renault, by ex-McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen.

Image source: Lotus F1 Team
Image source: Lotus F1 Team

He said in a statement posted on Twitter:

“As everyone knows in recent days there have been a number of rumours about my immediate future in Formula 1. Today, with the utmost humility, I inform you that I will not be present at the starting grid for the 2016 F1 season.

“Thanks for all your messages of support, passion and concern for my future. I feel very honoured with the support of all of you and proud of my professional performance.”

Sponsored Posts

Comments

Anonymous

No more crashes. It is a sad day today

02/01/2016 - 16:30 |
41 | 1
bcrm

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

It’s fine guys, I heard Euro NCAP offered him a position.

02/02/2016 - 18:57 |
0 | 0
Disklok

Now who can we have a website about whether they crashed or not?

02/01/2016 - 16:31 |
26 | 0
Leevi Määttänen

In reply to by Disklok

That is one seriously good question. We need a new “crashtor”

02/01/2016 - 16:38 |
4 | 0

Instead of crashes, why not something like ‘Has Haas scored a point yet?’ after they claimed they’d score in the first race. We still also have ‘Has McLaren Honda Won Yet?’.

02/01/2016 - 16:42 |
11 | 0
Nissan 420sx

In reply to by Disklok

Ken Block or Kubica haha

02/01/2016 - 16:47 |
1 | 1
Abbas Algudaihi

In reply to by Disklok

Its no more

02/01/2016 - 18:58 |
13 | 0
Anonymous

Now he concentrate on his Destruction Derby aspirations.

02/01/2016 - 16:42 |
4 | 0
Blvk_Sky

Nooo!

02/01/2016 - 16:59 |
0 | 0
AdrianAte8

He didn’t deserve to be there.

02/01/2016 - 16:59 |
1 | 0
Anonymous

Nope, no way I’m upvoting this. It’s a sad day indeed

02/01/2016 - 17:02 |
0 | 0
Ultra

So in a way a good driver who desserve to be in F1 like Magnussen will replace him. But in an other way, who will make us laugh during a boring GP ?
And what will be the destiny of http://hasmaldonadocrashedtoday.com/ ?

02/01/2016 - 17:07 |
18 | 0
Legendary

Who else saw that he made $ 1.3 million a year? I mean where do I sign up for this job?

02/01/2016 - 17:16 |
0 | 0
Kevin B

I repost it he, but this pic summarize his F1 career, I’ll miss Maldonado, at least when the race got boring, he always figured out something ^^

02/01/2016 - 17:27 |
8 | 0
Anonymous

:(

02/01/2016 - 17:40 |
1 | 1