Pastor Maldonado had a strong Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago, taking seventh position and his first points of the season, and now arrives at the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix looking for more of the same.
The Lotus F1 Team driver was naturally happy to finally secure his first points of the season, but feels the E23 Hybrid has lots of potential to be even better, and hopes it is a catalyst for more positive results in 2015.
“There’s a lot of potential yet to come,” insisted Maldonado. “There are twelve races left in the season so still a lot of opportunity to do well.
“It’s been frustrating waiting for a points finishing race to come, but now it’s happened it’s like the monkey is off my back and we can push forward for a good season. Certainly, it was a positive weekend for the team in Canada and there’s still lots of potential in the season ahead.
“There was a fantastic reaction from everyone in the team and it was great to be part of the team at that moment when I walked back to the garage seeing how everyone was happy for me.
“Everyone has worked so hard this year and last year too, so it’s really great when you finish a race in the points. This is what we want to do at every Grand Prix and what we want in Austria next.”
Maldonado enjoyed his first experience in Formula 1 at the Red Bull Ring a year ago, although he could only finish in twelfth position. He is hoping to have another strong qualifying in Austria, which he hopes propels him onto a second consecutive points finish for only the second time in his F1 career (Abu Dhabi and the United States in 2012 for Williams).
“It is an interesting circuit and one I enjoyed visiting last year, even if it was a weekend where we didn’t have the best of results,” said Maldonado. “I think we have much better potential this year with the car and we’ve been looking quite strong recently.
“It’s great to be able to visit a different type of location for a Grand Prix and the event was really impressive last year; I’m looking forward to returning.
“Just like any Grand Prix we’ll be looking to get the maximum from the car. You need good power in Austria especially with the decent hill there. There are a couple of straights and we’ve been looking good through the speed traps so hopefully we’ll keep that pace. If we can qualify well we should have a great race.”
