Pastor Maldonado brings points for Lotus again

After a difficult start to the season, Pastor Maldonado seems to have found his rhythm as he finishes 7th for the second time in a row. He managed to secure this position after a great battle with Max Verstappen’s Toro Rosso at the end of the race: « It’s great to finish 7th again and get the points that come with it. It was a nice battle with Max. The super softs were very hot, which caused quite a loss of grip and therefore aerodynamic downforce, but everything was under control! I wanted to achieve this position and I think we deserved it. »

Federico Gastaldi, the deputy team principal, praised the Venezuelan’s performance: « It was a fantastic race by Pastor to secure his second consecutive 7th place this season. It was a difficult tactical race where he saved fuel in his first stint, then managed his tires, doing everything that was asked of him from the pit wall. He demonstrated incredible control of his car at the very end of the race. »

On the other hand, the black cat seems to have passed into Romain Grosjean’s single-seater since he had gearbox troubles while he was solidly positioned in the points: “We had good potential after the pit stop. It felt good to pass several cars with side-by-side action. We were 8th when we retired, even though the car seemed fine. I just lost my gears and we couldn’t do anything other than retire.”