Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado have all been handed penalty points for transgressions during the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Force India pair were handed two penalty points each for incidents with Daniil Kvyat and Romain Grosjean respectively, for which they were also given a 10 second time drop in the race. It is Hulkenberg's first penalty points, while Perez now has four, to add to his two he accrued when he hit Adrian Sutil in the United States last year. Pastor Maldonado was […]

Lotus drivers Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado were left to rue the squad's misfortune after both cars were forced out of the race on the opening lap. Grosjean suffered a loss of power on the formation lap and pulled into the garage shortly after the start, while Maldonado was clipped by Felipe Nasr and crashed into the barriers at Turn 2. "We had a loss of power on the formation lap; there was a technical issue which we are investigating," said Grosjean. "It’s not how […]

Lotus drivers Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado expressed their happiness after both drivers were able to make it through to Q3 in Australia. Lotus endured a problematic campaign in 2014 and scored only 10 points, but Grosjean qualified in ninth place for the Australian Grand Prix, with Maldonado in 10th. "I’m really happy to be back in Q3, and especially happy for our guys who have been working so hard over the last 12 months," said Grosjean. "We knew we had a good car from […]

Lotus has absolved Pastor Maldonado from blame for the crash which ended their pre-season testing programme prematurely, citing a brake failure on the E23 Hybrid. Maldonado went off at Turn 4 shortly after lunch on the final day of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and damaged the front wing and suspension, preventing the team from being able to emerge on track during the rest of the day. Maldonado's time from the morning session, during which he undertook aero assessments, meant he ended the day […]

Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado set the quickest time for the second time in three days at a cloudy and occasionally damp Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Maldonado set a time of 1:24.348 – the quickest time of the week – on the Super Soft tyres to eclipse Toro Rosso Max Verstappen, who also set his most rapid time on the Super Softs, albeit during the morning session. Verstappen brought out one of the day's red flags when he stopped at the pit exit with 20 minutes remaining. […]

Pastor Maldonado sent Lotus to the top of the times after setting the quickest time on the first day of the second pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Maldonado recovered from two early stoppages to set a time of 1:25.011 on the Soft tyres, narrowly beating Kimi Raikkonen's quickest effort, which the Finn had achieved on the Medium compound. Daniel Ricciardo was third quickest for Red Bull, having set his best time on Options. Sergio Pérez completed the afternoon session for Force India and […]

Pastor Maldonado says he is optimistic over Lotus' potential after he enjoyed his first day of running in the squad's new E23 Hybrid. Maldonado endured a difficult 2014 campaign as he scored just two points but after being unable to hit the circuit on Sunday, he gave the car its public debut on Monday morning at Jerez. Maldonado racked up 41 laps to set the sixth quickest time before a drive train issue truncated his running. "It was fantastic to get behind the wheel for […]

Pastor Maldonado says he was disappointed not to finish the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the pace in the Lotus E22 was better than he expected. Maldonado ran on the fringes of the top 10 but was forced to park by the side of the track when flames poured from the back of his car on lap 27. "That was a surprising race for me," he said. "Our race pace was actually pretty good and I was able to fight with the Ferraris as well […]

Pastor Maldonado says he is pleased with the Lotus E22, despite setting the slowest time during qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Maldonado was 18th in qualifying but will start from 16th as a result of penalties for Daniil Kvyat and Sergio Perez. "It might not look like it from the lap time in qualifying, but I think we have a good car here, and certainly for the race," said the Venezuelan. "We were not able to put everything in the right place today and […]

Pastor Maldonado believes that an error on his final flying lap in Q2 cost him a shot at competing in the top 10 shootout during qualifying for the United States Grand Prix. Maldonado was eighth quickest in Q1 but ran wide at Turn 19 and ended the second knockout session in 11th position. However, the Venezuelan will start from 10th place as a result of Jenson Button's gearbox penalty. "The car feels more solid and together than it has for the last few races which […]

Pastor Maldonado has admitted he is looking forward to Lotus' switch from Renault to Mercedes power for 2015. The Venezuelan has said consistently this year he does not regret moving last winter from Williams to the Enstone-based team. But almost a full season on, while Williams made an impressive leap from the rear of the midfield to the upper grid hatchings in 2014, Lotus' reverse in fortunes has been just as dramatic. It means Maldonado's best hope now is that Lotus can perform a similar […]

Pastor Maldonado conceded that Lotus faces an uphill struggle as he will start from the back of the grid for the inaugural Russian Grand Prix. Maldonado was beset by power unit problems throughout the day and qualified in 20th, but will drop behind Max Chilton as a result of having to serve the remainder of his engine penalty. "We had a lot of problems today so very little time on the track," he said. "I missed the morning session because of a concern with the […]