Could Maldonado's sponsor hurt Williams?

[mr nobody]

Outlook grim in Venezuela's essential oil industry

PDVSA is not able to cover it's costs even at $100 a barrel oil. Does that mean it could be leaving F1?

[Nikki Katz]

I expect that this will happen, but it probably won't have an impact on the racing drivers for a year or two yet. I expect Maldonado will complete this season and possibly 2014, same with other Venezuelan drivers. He probably doesn't have a long term F1 future though.

[truefan72]

I expect that this will happen, but it probably won't have an impact on the racing drivers for a year or two yet. I expect Maldonado will complete this season and possibly 2014, same with other Venezuelan drivers. He probably doesn't have a long term F1 future though.

Why?
seems to me that Maldonado has outdriven his "pay driver" status and has shown to be a solid F1 driver
Yes he is boneheaded and petulant at times, but there is no denying his talent at this point.
Even I have had to eat crow about his talents these days.
So to me, his long term prospects look solid.

[Koz]

Why?
seems to me that Maldonado has outdriven his "pay driver" status and has shown to be a solid F1 driver
Yes he is boneheaded and petulant at times, but there is no denying his talent at this point.
Even I have had to eat crow about his talents these days.
So to me, his long term prospects look solid.

Doesn't matter how good Maldonado is. Williams is not the greatest position, and if his money does dry up, they'll go for another pay driver (Senna). And there are no spaces in any other teams.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Why?
seems to me that Maldonado has outdriven his "pay driver" status and has shown to be a solid F1 driver
Yes he is boneheaded and petulant at times, but there is no denying his talent at this point.
Even I have had to eat crow about his talents these days.
So to me, his long term prospects look solid.

I don't think Williams are prepared to retain him on 'talent' alone. He won one race, when Williams won the tire lottery, but apart from that he hasn't shown much apart from an uncanny ability to stick his car into various pieces of scenery. If you have to pay him, there are myriads of better alternatives, so without pay driver status I'd say he's going nowhere in F1.

[Ranger]

There is nothing wrong with Maldonado's pace.

He was so much faster than Bruno at some parts of last season it almost wasn't believable. He also seems to be faster than Bottas at the moment.

I don't think Williams are prepared to retain him on 'talent' alone. He won one race, when Williams won the tire lottery, but apart from that he hasn't shown much apart from an uncanny ability to stick his car into various pieces of scenery. If you have to pay him, there are myriads of better alternatives, so without pay driver status I'd say he's going nowhere in F1.

This phrase is perfect and can't be emphasised enough. It is the single biggest factor that will prevent him from having a lengthy F1 career - PDVSA money or not.

[Nikki Katz]

I'm not saying that Maldonado is untalented at all, he's clearly not. But is he really any better than Kovalainen, Kobayashi, Petrov or Glock?

The thing with Maldonado's pace compared to Senna last year is that Senna sat out almost every FP1 to give the seat to Bottas, whereas Maldonado drove them all. They also didn't actually finish far apart in the points, though Maldonado got the majority of his through a deserved win.

Williams has been somewhat cash strapped since RBS left and seems to get the majority of its money through Maldonado's sponsorship. If PDVSA go under then they'll have no option but to find another pay driver, perhaps two.

Bottas has been a little underwhelming so far. I still think he should have been racing something last year instead of just being a reserve driver. But it's not far into the season and the car's still off the pace, so maybe later in the year he'll do something more impressive.

[henners88]

Maldonado has a race win under his belt and a huge amount of money behind him. If Williams weren't so strapped for cash he would have gone after last season IMO. They've let World Champions exit for less.

[zako85]

I would agree with the top post. While Maldonado has probably earned his place in F1 car seat, today's teams seem to dispense too easily with anyone who has proven to be only merely a good midfield driver unless there is a good sponsor. Losing PDVSA support would be a "death sentence" for Maldonado. While Maldonado is ok driver, so is Kobayashi, Petrov, Kovalainen, etc.

[Mia 01]

Pay me and I will drive.