Maldonado reveals he was close to Ferrari move

Pastor Maldonado five-season stint in Formula 1 is best remembered for his first and only F1 victory in Spain in 2012. However, he's revealed his career could have been very different had an expected move not fallen through.

Maldonado raced for Williams and Lotus during his Formula 1 career with his only podium coming in Spain when he won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. He amassed 76 points during his five-season spell but he became well known for some of his slightly reckless driving.

However, his career could have been very different. The Venezuelan has revealed he was close to joining none other than Ferrari before they opted to sign Kimi Raikkonen.

"I was the only one, I was the new guy in F1," Maldonado told the Beyond the Grid podcast.

"It's like [Max] Verstappen at the moment. Like Robert Kubica at his time. I was the guy at the time. People were coming to me, they were happy to talk to me, and they were happy to discuss me.

"It was a lot of conflict of interest against the sponsors and we were negotiating about that. My sponsors were open to maybe not to be on the car or be with another company, they were open to find a solution to my career.

"At some point, we got very close to Ferrari. I was expecting the move at the time."