Pastor Maldonado: “I will drive in the same way…”

Pastor Maldonado says he won’t change his aggressive driving style, despite losing priceless points after his late clash with Lewis Hamilton in Valencia.

The Venezuelan has had a few scrapes this year. He lost a good position in Melbourne when he went off on the last lap, while his Monaco and Montreal weekends were also badly impacted by accidents, both of which led to gearbox changes and a grid penalty.

“I think I’ve been a bit unlucky in the last couple of races,” said Maldonado. “Especially Monaco and Montreal, because I was penalised because of the gearbox. But the pace has been always there.

“And for sure last race it’s difficult to evaluate. Lewis was losing by 3s a lap, and I saw the chance to get into the podium. I had a very difficult race, especially in some moments I was P10, and I recovered quite well. For sure I was looking forward to getting into the podium as well.

“One and a half laps to the end I saw the chance to take the position against Lewis, he tried to defend, I tried to attack. It was a normal contact [accident], I think. For sure it was disappointing, because it was good points for the team, for me as well. Looking forward, it doesn’t change anything. The season is still long, we have plenty of races, coming. So I’m looking forward.

“For sure, I will drive in the same way. We need to push, especially in this moment the gaps are very close, and I think the drivers are making the difference at the moment.”
Although Silverstone has some similarities with Barcelona, where he won in May, Maldonado says it’s too early to suggest that the track will suit the Williams.

“This kind of track our car has been working quite well in the past. But it’s different conditions, different weather, different track as well, different tarmac surface. It’s difficult to predict. At the moment we have a quite good feeling with the tyres, the tyres are working quite well, I know how to manage the tyres during the race, I know how to manage them in qualy. But this is not everything. The team has been working hard even to improve the performance.

“For this race we have a new aero package, a quite big one, so I’m looking forward to test it on the track tomorrow. It’s a home race for the team, so it’s a special one. In the last I’ve done quite well actually, last year was my best qualifying, I think it was seventh or eighth, so for sure I’m looking forward to this weekend. It’s going to be very important for us to find a good result, good points.”