Williams’ Toto Wolff believes Pastor Maldonado has gone beyond victory at Barcelona – Formula 1
Williams’ board member Toto Wolff says that Pastor Maldonado has done much more than just winning the Spanish Grand Prix.
According to Wolff, Maldonado has shut his critics up with an impressive show at the recently concluded GP. The Venezuelan driver has received criticism over being a pay driver for Williams and Wolff said that it is now time for a payback for him.
“I think silencing his critics is being diplomatic with language,” Wolff told AUTOSPORT. “I think he has shut them up with his performance in Spain.”
“I have said it many times before that the economic environment [in motor racing] has changed. If you want to run in GP2 you need one and a half million pounds, so the drivers there are not only quick and talented but these guys have been able to attract
partners too. Pastor has been very successful in attracting partners and many others have been too. So let's forget about this phrase 'pay driver', as we have to get used to this situation in the future,” he added.
Sir Frank Williams also said recently that although Maldonado was initially brought in because of the sponsorships he was bringing in and money was obviously an incentive but if the team did not think that he had the potential to be in they would not have
picked him no matter how much money he was going to bring in.
Wolff added that Maldonado has made a big leap in progress with his driving this year and that his crash in the final lap of the Australian GP has taught him a very hard lesson but in hindsight also has improved him as a driver.
He said that he did not put himself in a lot of pressure during the Spanish GP. That is very important to keep your calm and not let the nerves of the moment ruin your chances at something big. He was faultless throughout the race and did well to manage
his tyres according to the conditions.
It will be interesting to see how Williams and Maldonado progress after posting a Grand Prix victory in the season.
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