Maldonado reveals he was close to Ferrari move

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12:35, 05 Sep 2019

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.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	72
2	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	63
3	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	49
4	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	41
5	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	25
6	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	21
7	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	17
8	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	15
9	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	12
10	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	10
11	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	4
12	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	4
13	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
14	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	2
15	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	1
16	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	1
17	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
18	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	0
19	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
20	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
21	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

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