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Driver Pastor
Maldonado
Chassis / engine FW32-01 / CA221
Location Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi. 5.554km / 3.451 miles
Objectives Aero testing, baseline and familiarisation runs
Weather Warm and clear all day
Air & track temps 30ºC / 38ºC
 Pastor Maldonado made his debut for
the AT&T Williams team after a day testing for HRT. He spent
the morning doing aerodynamic work but went faster in the afternoon, lapping
three quarters of a second off Rubens Barrichello's qualifying time from
last Saturday. He would have a problem in the afternoon when a sensor warning
forced a precautionary shutdown of the engine.
Tom McCullough, Senior Test Engineer
We’ve had a productive day with Pastor. He covered a lot of mileage, just
under 450km, while helping us with our aero tests. Unfortunately, we had a
reliability problem at the end of the day which prevented him from running
the soft tyre, but overall it was a positive session during which time we’ve
gathered plenty of data..
Pastor Maldonado
Today was another great experience. We had to do a lot of slower speed aero
set-up work today so I couldn’t really push it, and I didn’t get a run of
the soft tyre either, but I’m pleased with the work I’ve done. I’m getting
lots of track time this week, which is improving my confidence in the car.
AT&T Williams will be back on track on Friday 19 November with Rubens
Barrichello piloting the FW32.
 PASTOR
MALDONADO - BIOGRAPHY
Nationality
Venezuelan
Date of Birth 9 March 1985
Career Highlights
2010 GP2 Championship, Series Champion: 6 wins, 2 poles
2009 GP2 Championship, 6th overall: 2 wins
2008 GP2 Championship, 5th overall: 1 win, 5 podiums, 2 poles
2007 GP2 Championship, 11th overall: 1 win, 2 podiums, 1 pole
2006 Formula Renault 3.5 Series, 3rd overall: 3 wins, 6 podiums, 5 poles
2005 Italian F3000 Championship, 9th overall: 1 win (from 4 starts)
2004 Italian Formula Renault 2.0 Series, Series Champion: 8 wins, 6 poles
European Formula Renault V.6 Series, 8th overall: 2 wins
First Formula One test with Minardi F1
2003 Italian Formula Renault 2.0 Series, 7th overall: 3 podiums, 1 pole
2000 Formula Renault Winter Series, Series Champion
1993 – 1999 Karting: Winner of 4 regional & 3 national Venezuelan
Championships
Born on 9 March 1985 in Maracay, Venezuela, 25 year old Pastor Maldonado’s
career path has followed a traditional route by motorsport standards. By the
age of seven, Pastor was racing karts in Venezuela’s junior championships
and, by the time he’d reached the tender age of 15, had already secured 8
titles, including Renault’s Winter Series. A move to Europe in 2003 ensued
in order to contest the Italian Formula Renault Series. Three podiums and
one pole placed him seventh overall at the end of his first season in
Formula racing.
Remaining in the same series for a second season allowed Pastor to develop
his skills and drive past the competition to eight wins and six poles making
him the clear title winner that year. A dominating season was rewarded with
recognition in Formula One circles when he was called to test for the
Miranda F1 Team over the winter.
2005 was a disjointed year for Pastor. He competed in just four races in
Italy’s F3000 Championship (enough to be ranked ninth overall) and then nine
events in the Spanish World Series by Renault with a best place finish of
seventh.
A more rewarding year followed in 2006 when Pastor finished third place in
the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with three wins, six podiums and five pole
positions. Pastor’s talent was quickly acknowledged by GP2 and a seat for
2007 was confirmed over the winter. His first season was marked by highs and
lows. After sealing a clear victory around Monaco, the celebrations were
soon clouded by a broken collarbone, fractured while training, which put him
out of action for four of the final rounds and out of the top ten in the
final championship order.
Having made a full recovery over the winter, Pastor returned to GP2 in 2008
where he has remained for the past three seasons. Diligently honing his race
craft over the time spent in Formula One’s main feeder series has seen
Pastor take a total of ten wins, nine podiums, four poles and a Best Rookie
Award. The ultimate prize came at the end of the 2010 campaign when Pastor’s
season culminated in title honours at the penultimate race of the season at
Monza.
More information can be found at
www.pastormaldonado.com
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