Maldonado eager for closer competition

2014 Monaco Grand Prix

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Pastor Maldonado is hoping the competition between the leading teams closes up in the coming races.

Mercedes have begun the season with the biggest performance advantage in 16 years, but Maldonado is yet to score a point or make it beyond Q1 in his Lotus so far.

“It’s difficult because ultimately the rules are the same for everyone,” he said, “but I would like the performance of the cars to be closer”.

“That is the main thing. Whatever the cars, whatever the teams, we need better competition. That’s certainly what we’re pushing for as a team; to be closer to the front.”

Lotus head into Monaco with some optimism after what Maldonado described as “our first ‘normal’ test without any problems” in Spain earlier this week.

“It was really important and a very positive test because we learnt so much more about the car,” Maldonado explained. “Everything is getting better and better in my opinion.”

The test had also given Lotus some insight into how Pirelli’s revised tyres will handle on the streets of Monaco.

“We’re also going to face a big challenge as the tyres are harder than those we’ve used in Monaco in the past,” he said.

“In Barcelona we ran with the super-soft and were able to finish the lap without causing problems for the tyres, which was not the case in the past. So that’ll be a big question mark.

“For sure Mercedes is the strongest team at the moment but we are focused and pushing hard to catch them.”

2014 Monaco Grand Prix

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Image © Lotus/LAT

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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46 comments on “Maldonado eager for closer competition”

  1. Pastor, finishing at all would be practically a miracle for you….. Not hitting anyone is the way improve.

    1. I just found new mashup game: Battlefield-F1

  2. Gutierrez might beg to differ.

  3. What is he talking about? He so close to the competition that he can’t avoid hitting them!

    1. Hahaha, nicely done XD

    2. hahahahahahaha!

    3. He wants his driving to make an ‘impact’ in the championship @alanmiller

  4. perhaps he means closer competition to the wall. he’s been battling with it all career long. so far it always won as soon as he got really close to it.

  5. Maldonado/Crashtor/[etc.] jokes in 3… 2… 1…

  6. Not sure if the others want to be closer to you, mate…

  7. “For sure Mercedes is the strongest team at the moment but we are focused and pushing hard to catch them.”

    Oh no… he’s pushing hard? He wants to catch them?

    Now we know why Mercedes wants to keep a large gap.

  8. He’s only really satisfied when the competition’s close enough to touch.

  9. Wow, with 9 comments there’s 7 crash jokes, one +1, and a warning that there’ll be crash jokes. Ain’t you guys sweet.

    1. And one more comment commenting on the number of crash comments :P

      1. Can’t win :P

      2. And my comment on your comment about that comment on the crash comments.

        It’s sad that Maldonado isn’t taken seriously anymore, but at the same time it’s 100% deserved.

        1. Yeah I remember the time Grosjean wasn’t being taken seriously either.

          1. Indeed @nickf12013. Pastor just needs to take some responsibility for his actions, just like Grosjean did. I always think with Pastor there’s a likeable character there, but he needs to have a joke about himself and take some of the blame now and again.

            I was kind of hoping he would show some remorse after the Gutierrez incident but there wasn’t really any. There’s only so many chances a guy gets until the F1 fans will just give up.

          2. @john-h He really has no incentive to take responsibility for his actions. Why should he? He brings so much money, he’ll have a seat no matter what he does or how he behaves!

          3. Grosjean knew when he was in the wrong and worked to correct it. It was clear that he was upset with himself in the post-incident interviews. Maldonado aggressively insists that it’s always the other driver’s fault without fail, even when driving straight into the side of someone like with Gutierrez in Bahrain.

    2. By any chance, has Maldonado been involved in 7 seven crashes so far?

      1. 7 crashes plus some off track “excursions”. All in 5 races. That’s a very sad record and one he takes no responsibility for which is the main reason everyone is so hard on him.

  10. Kimoni Nakamoto (@)
    16th May 2014, 17:13

    Statistics on the crashiest drivers in F1 history might be an entertaining read on a slow news day… can Maldonado compete with the likes of Taki Inoue, Andrea De Cesaris, Jody Scheckter et al?

    1. Neil (@neilosjames)
      16th May 2014, 17:31

      Was wondering the other day if Maldonado will ever ‘reform’ like Scheckter did.

      Can’t see it myself.

      1. Agreed. Reformation by Maldonado would be so much more probable if he would simply accept responsibility for his driving errors. Until he admits his mistakes, he dooms himself to avoid correcting them. That is why we see so many crash comments and such with any Maldonado story. How can he be taken seriously?

        On the other hand, watching Grosjean reform his driving style and become a very good, fast and reliable driver has been quite gratifying.

  11. but I would like the performance of the cars to be closer

    Well, Maldonado is always close to other cars, maybe too close.

  12. The thing that gets me about Pastor is that I don’t trust his opinion on how a test or how a car performs. Ever since he called the Williams last year the best car ever I just can’t believe him

    1. That’s literally what I was thinking too. I don’t trust a word he says. I do find it sometimes entertaining tho :)

    2. @fletch @me4me
      I think he said he has driven his best in 2013 (Which means better than 2011 and 2012), not that the car was the best or am I mistaken? I’m pretty sure he said the former though.

      1. Googled it, and found it on some random site called f1fanatic.co.uk :D Anyway here it is:

  13. Guys guys, get this… you’re gonna love this…

    Maybe for Pastor, getting close to the competition is part of the problem!!

    Am I right guys?!

    Guys…?

  14. Hahaha, really. I knew those comments were coming. What is Maldanado thinking…..

  15. Here is a (blog) thread of proof.Maldonado’s words carry no weight ;)

  16. Lee Monahan
    17th May 2014, 2:05

    His name may as well be Pastor Kardashian, he’s an attention whore that has accomplished nothing, nobody really cares what he has to say, everybody laughs at him, and for whatever reason various media/journalists/blogs feel the need to give them any attention and report it as if somebody cares.

  17. what a shame!

  18. I think Pastor himself needs to get closer to the front before he can even think about battling with Ferrari, Red Bull, and the others.

  19. “I’m tired of tipping over backmarkers. I want to take out some big names.”

    1. @moblet
      Next target: flipping a Merc while being lapped!

  20. Aqib (@aqibqadeer)
    17th May 2014, 9:38

    I also hope for closer competition Crashtor!! but I hope you stay away maybe crash in the wall in FP3 dont appear in qualifying and crash into the barrier in the race or at least or you stay away from other drivers but ofcourse i dont want you to get injured just out of the race

  21. Just when you think you’ve heard it all from this guy, he comes out with something even more ludicrous. Blaming ‘the wall’ for causing an accident is something not even a drunk driver would have the temerity to
    claim. This boy Pastor is beyond ridicule, he is a complete tit!

  22. Michael Brown (@)
    17th May 2014, 16:42

    This article is just begging for Maldonado hate.

  23. If he decides to get any closer, he better make sure it’s consensual.

    1. And we have a winner!!!!

  24. The Maldonado bashing is already out of hand and boring, TBH.

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