Official: Pastor Maldonado joins Romain Grosjean at Lotus
One of the main pieces on the transfer market has just been set with the official announcement of Pastor Maldonado joining Lotus. He will be alongside Romain Grosjean, who has also been confirmed for 2014.
The Venezuelan was one of the main attractions of the transfer market as he has significant financial backing with the support of the oil company PDVSA.
He has therefore managed to beat the German Nico Hülkenberg in the race for the Lotus seat, who is much more promising sportingly but without financial support capable of sustaining a team that lost its number one driver due to not being paid. The fact that Lotus now officially announces his arrival suggests that the funds that were supposed to come with the investors behind Quantum will never materialize, as was the case for the Qadback investors who wanted to acquire Sauber when BMW withdrew. It remains to be seen how the team will manage the coexistence of two oil companies (PDVSA and Total) on its cars…
From a sporting perspective, it is a great opportunity for the Venezuelan since Lotus is clearly more competitive than a Williams, which could only score five points over the past season: « It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to join the Lotus F1 Team in 2014. It’s no secret, I’ve wanted to change direction to give new impetus to my career and Lotus F1 Team really offers me the best opportunity to be competitive next season. The regulations and the cars are going to change radically, so it’s the right time to start off on the right foot. I look forward to racing in the black and gold suit. »
The 2010 GP2 champion will therefore be alongside his successor in the rankings as Lotus has logically extended Romain Grosjean’s contract, who achieved four podiums in five races at the end of the season. The Frenchman will clearly be the central figure of the team as he is familiar with all its operations and has been involved since the inception of the development of the new car.
Eric Boullier, the team principal, hopes that his new driver duo will maintain the team’s position, which could have fought until the end for the second place in the championship if Kimi Räikkönen hadn’t decided to cut his time with the team short: « For over two years, we have been working on the new car in accordance with the new regulations, and we are convinced that we have a very good response to the challenges presented to us. With Romain and Pastor, I sincerely believe that the Lotus F1 Team will be able to cause quite a few surprises next year. »
Now, the other teams, starting with Force India and Sauber, will be able to finalize their own driver pairings since an unknown has been removed from the equation. The big question that remains is whether Nico Hülkenberg prefers to return to Force India or if he wants to benefit from the foundations laid during the season at Sauber. It seems that the first hypothesis currently holds the lead…
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
