Last Sunday proved that Pastor Maldonado is no mere ‘pay driver’.

“If he was a fool, he would not be with us, no matter how much money he brings,” Sir Frank Williams is quoted by Brazil’s Globo Esporte.

Venezuelan Maldonado, whose links to the state owned oil company PDVSA and president Hugo Chavez controversially deliver many millions to Williams’ Oxfordshire based team, became F1′s fifth different winner of 2012 last weekend in Spain.

It has helped him to shake off the ‘pay driver’ insult, Williams insisting he is now a potential world champion instead.

“Without a doubt. He is very fast and makes no mistakes,” the newly 70-year-old Briton said.

Williams does, however, acknowledge that Maldonado’s money was a key factor in the decision to sign him.

“Yes, it was to some extent,” he said. “I don’t deny that. But he’s also a real driver. He fully deserves to be on the team, with or without money.

“The truth is that if you don’t have money, you don’t get to be in formula one,” added Williams.

Team shareholder Toto Wolff agrees: “If you want to race in GP2, you need a few million pounds. So, the drivers need not only to be fast and talented, but able to attract the sponsors.

“So let’s forget this thing about ‘pay drivers’,” he insisted.

Triple world champion Nelson Piquet, however, has some lingering doubts.

He ran Maldonado in his own GP2 team some years ago, and this week recalled a driver who was often “too aggressive” and made too many mistakes.

“We’re not talking about a guy who shone in his youth, like Nico Rosberg,” said the famous Brazilian, “or someone like Lewis Hamilton, who always had everything he needed thanks to Ron Dennis.

“In GP2, when you don’t stand out in your second year, you begin to be doubted. In Maldonado’s case, he only shone in his fourth year.

“Perhaps because of this he only made it to formula one as a paying driver, without having anything special, apparently. He was perceived as just a good pilot, but clearly no Alonso.

“Now he was at the right place at the right time but he still managed to beat Alonso in Spain as well as another world champion, Kimi (Raikkonen). So hats off to him.”

 Williams will not rush into signing a new title sponsor, chairman Adam Parr insists.
The famous British team performed woefully in 2011 and lost its naming backer ATT, yet recently revealed improved turnover and profits.

And Parr told Reuters the Grove based team has more than $45 million in the bank.

“I am very satisfied with what we have done overall with the business,” he said.

“We don’t have a title sponsor at the moment and obviously that’s an important initiative for us. But it’s something that you have to get right because your title sponsor is the most visible of your partners,” Parr explained.

“In many ways, it sets the character of the team. You want a title partner who is very active in the way they promote and activate the partnership.

“This is not something we are going to rush into, this is something we want to get right.”

For the moment, Williams’ main source of income appears to be the controversial deal with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA, including Pastor Maldonado as driver.

“PDVSA is an important partner of the team in financial and other respects but it is by no means the only one,” insisted Parr.

 A leaked invoice suggests PDVSA, the state owned Venezuelan oil company, is paying a staggering US$46 million for its sponsorship of the Williams team in 2012.
Despite its authenticity having not been confirmed, the invoice from Williams – includes the Oxfordshire based team’s correct Barclays bank account – requests the full amount in pounds sterling.

Also appearing on the internet in recent months were the full contract between team driver Pastor Maldonado and Williams, and a stamped letter from Venezuelan congressman Carlos Ramos.

The leaking of the documents, with the invoice now published on the website of the Spanish sports daily Marca, surrounds Venezuelan officials’ doubts about the legality of Williams’ lucrative PDVSA deal.

Ramos’ letter to Williams’ communications boss Claire Williams last November referred to an “ongoing investigation” by the Venezuelan parliament.

“You may … be aware that our congress granted no approval to the sponsorship contract between Williams F1 and PDVSA,” he wrote, demanding Williams divulge the “amount disbursed to date to Williams F1 by PDVSA”.

Maldonado is backed directly by PDVSA, and is famously close to Venezuela’s controversial president Hugo Chavez.

Williams’ former marketing boss has said he doubts the famous British team will ever again win in formula one.
With its 7 drivers’ and 9 constructors’ championships, Oxfordshire based Williams is one of F1′s most successful teams but the outfit has not won a single race since 2004.

Not only that, the team is ahead only of the three backmarker teams Team Lotus, Virgin and HRT in this year’s constructors’ standings and the Daily Telegraph reports that its share price on the Frankfurt exchange is crashing.

Williams floated 24 per cent of its shares in March at EUR 24.38, but the current price (EUR 15) represents a 40 per cent decline in six months.

Former marketing chief Scott Garrett, now vice president of brands at Heinz, admitted he does not believe Williams “will ever have the budget” to win again in F1.

“The sorry state of the WF1 equity price indicates a team that is more desperate than confident, and confidence is critical when presenting oneself to sponsors and asking them for money,” he said.

Williams is reportedly considering replacing its highly experienced lead driver Rubens Barrichello for 2012 with another driver able to bring sponsorship dollars to the team.

Rookie Pastor Maldonado’s place is considered safe due to his lucrative backing by the Venezuelan state owned oil company PDVSA.

“My feeling right now is unless Williams have money problems, they should stick with what they have right now”, the news agency AFP quotes Barrichello, 39, as saying.

“To have two kids for next year is the wrong thing to have,” added the Brazilian.

A veteran journalist has linked GP2 driver Jules Bianchi with the Williams seat currently occupied by Rubens Barrichello for the 2012 season.

Brazilian Barrichello, the most experienced driver in formula one history, is waiting to have his contract renewed by the famous British team.

But his countryman Livio Oricchio, who writes for the O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, has said this week that the 39-year-old’s seat is in doubt because “Frank Williams needs money”.

He said Williams’ main revenue streams are Pastor Maldonado’s sponsor PDVSA, F1 television income, and minor backers like Randstad, Reuters, ATT and Oris.

Altogether, struggling Williams’ budget is about $100 million, with Barrichello costing the team about $5m.

“And there are young drivers on the market with a similar amount of money ($5m) to spend to make their formula one debut, like the Monegasque Stefano Coletti, Italian Davide Valsecchi, Briton Sam Bird and Frenchman Jules Bianchi”, said Oricchio.

“Bianchi is in the Ferrari school but he needs to show what he can do before he can dream to compete for the Maranello team. Williams would be a good entry point,” he added.

Bianchi, 22 and handled by Felipe Massa’s manager Nicholas Todt, has had a difficult GP2 season but is still highly regarded by Ferrari.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Speed Week reports that Force India driver Adrian Sutil’s key sponsor Medion has suffered a sharp decline in revenue in the first half of 2011.

The names Adrian Sutil and Nico Hulkenberg are suddenly being linked with the F1 seat currently occupied by Rubens Barrichello.

With Williams happy with Pastor Maldonado and his links with important Venezuelan backer PDVSA, the Grove based team at present is refusing to say the 39-year-old veteran Barrichello will surely stay beyond 2011.

Increasingly, the Brazilian’s rhetoric is sounding impatient, and Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports he is calling a halt to the practice of using his car as a test mule for struggling Williams’ technical experiments.

“Never have I wanted to be a test driver,” he is quoted as saying.

The report said Barrichello, with a conventional setup, was finally back to his dominant self in comparison to Maldonado in Hungary.

But at the same time, rumours swirled in the paddock that Germans Sutil – the current Force India driver – and 2010 Williams rookie Hulkenberg are in the running to replace Barrichello next year.

And Barrichello, the most experienced driver in F1 history, sounds frustrated.

“Our car cooks the rear tyres,” he said. “The driveability of the engine is bad and in slippery conditions it’s even worse. No matter what we do, we can’t make the tyre problem go away.

“We are bringing too many new parts to the car and only confusing ourselves,” he added.

Williams is likely to retain its current driver lineup for the 2012 season, according to chairman Adam Parr.

Team boss Frank Williams at Silverstone described Brazilian veteran Barrichello as “superb”, while rookie and reigning GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado is improving and his Venezuelan sponsor PDVSA is under contract to the famous Oxfordshire based team.

Asked if that means Williams is keeping its drivers, Parr told reporters: “Yes. I think that’s vastly the most likely outcome.”

The previously ultra-successful Williams has had a challenging past half-decade, but the future looks brighter with Renault coming on board as engine supplier and Parr looking to seal new sponsor deals.

“I said to the marketing guys (last year) ‘just back off. Keep things ticking over for the moment because we need to put in place a vision for the future which is very different to the vision of the present’,” said the Briton, as Sam Michael prepares to depart as McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan has come on board.

“We have some fantastic conversations going on and I’m very optimistic we will bring in some stunning new partnerships for next year,” he added.

(TMS) Williams test on Thursday for the first time be KERS – rewinds from Pastor Maldonado easy 101 rounds and gets to know the FW33
After Williams had had on the first two of the three days of testing at Valencia technical problems with its new KERS, Pastor Maldonado was on Thursday over a hundred laps with the system. The rookie was the seventh fastest lap time of the day (1:14.299 minutes), with which he was also much faster than his experienced team-mate Rubens Barrichello during the day before.

“I now feel much more comfortable in the car,” said the man from Venezuela, who tried out on Thursday next KERS also the new, adjustable rear wing. “I work better with the team and develop the car both in long runs than short stints. I feel better from time to time I get in the car.”
Maldonado was in high spirits on Thursday, after he received an important visitor at the racetrack: the Venezuelan ambassador to Spain, looked over at the Williams box and inquired of the largest motorsport hope of his country after the recent progress. “It was the first time that I met the ambassador, and for me it is great that he came here and supported me personally.”

“To know people like the ambassador behind me is very important to me. This shows that Venezuela supports me and the sport is very strong,” said Maldonado, who in the form of the state oil company PDVSA a sponsor in the back, prominently this season visible on the rear wing of the FW33 is.

Williams technical director Sam Michael was the last day of testing at Valencia also satisfied. While Barrichello was on the first two days of KERS still brake and electrical problems, Maldonado was able to try out all the systems of the new car extensively. “He did a good job you were to know all the control systems,” said Michael.
“There is a lot, think about the driver’s cockpit must now, with KERS, the rear wing, the brakes and the tires, which must be maintained at temperature,” gone, drove the experienced engineer. “We have made several changes to the vote to get to know the car, and some long runs down to temperature checks carried out.”

Three more new cars broke cover on Tuesday ahead of the opening day of pre-season testing at Valencia.

Williams’ FW33, featuring a KERS system designed by the famous team, is painted in interim navy-blue colours ahead of a livery launch at a later date.

It was debuted by Rubens Barrichello shortly after the pitlane opened at 10am. Pastor Maldonado, whose sponsor PDVSA is one of only a few decals on the pre-launch car, will follow on Wednesday.

“We’re optimistic. We think this is a good car,” said technical director Sam Michael.

Also launched early on Tuesday was the new Mercedes W02, painted in a striking new shinier silver and visibly very different to last year’s car.

“The new Silver Arrow has little in common with its immediate predecessor,” confirmed Norbert Haug, referring to the 2011 machine that will be debuted by Nico Rosberg.

Another car launched on Tuesday was Toro Rosso’s STR6, but it was Fernando Alonso in Ferrari’s new F150 with the fastest installation lap so far.

Pastor Maldonado has hinted that “important news” about his future could be forthcoming this week.

Last week, after testing with both the Williams and HRT teams, the new GP2 champion refused to confirm speculation he has already signed to make his F1 race debut in 2011.

Oxfordshire based Williams has cleared a race seat alongside Rubens Barrichello by ousting Nico Hulkenberg, whose manager Willi Weber said last Monday that the team has “probably already done a deal with Pastor Maldonado”.

25-year-old Maldonado wrote on Twitter: “This week could be very important and I hope to have news about the future.”

Maldonado, who is backed by the Venezuelan government and state-owned petroleum company PDVSA, told F1′s official website last week: “If you win the GP2 championship you definitely hope that formula one is the next logical step.”

Pastor Maldonado has refused to confirm speculation he has already signed to make his F1 debut with the Williams team in 2011.

In Abu Dhabi this week, the new GP2 champion has been testing both with Williams as well as HRT, the Spanish team that will use a gearbox supplied by Oxfordshire based Williams next year.

Williams has cleared a 2011 race seat alongside Rubens Barrichello by ousting Nico Hulkenberg, whose manager Willi Weber said on Monday that the team has “probably already done a deal with Pastor Maldonado”.

It is assumed that Williams has signed Maldonado because it needs his financial backing provided by the Venezuelan government and the petroleum company PDVSA.

But Maldonado is quoted by F1′s official website: “At the moment, no comment on that.”

Nico Hulkenberg has revealed that Williams is not his only option for the 2011 season.

Despite soaring to his maiden pole position a week ago in Brazil, the future of the German rookie is still clouded due to the British team not yet finalising its 2011 lineup.

Williams is reportedly considering Pastor Maldonado, the new GP2 champion who carries as much as EUR 15 million in PDVSA sponsorship, for the seat.

Chief executive Adam Parr on Friday hinted in Abu Dhabi that some key decisions about the team’s future have now been made.

“I have missed the last two races as I have been making sure we have the finances we need for next year, and we do,” he said.

Parr insisted that Williams is in “great financial shape”, but 23-year-old Hulkenberg appeared not to agree.

“Obviously they are struggling for some money,” he told Gulf News.

Hulkenberg said Williams’ driver decision will not be made until after Maldonado tests next week at the Yas Marina track.

“We have other options to go for other teams and races. I can’t name them or speak about it now. But for me, the most important thing is to stay in formula one,” he said.

The price-tag for a one-day ‘young driver test’ with the HRT team next week is EUR 200,000, according to Finland’s Turun Sanomat.

HRT’s other test seat for the post-season sessions at Abu Dhabi has been filled by Pastor Maldonado, the new GP2 champion who is reportedly backed to the tune of EUR 15 million by the Venezuelen petroleum company PDVSA.

Meanwhile, according to French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet in his Auto Plus column, Tony Fernandes is open to dropping the ‘Lotus’ name for 2011 if he is paid out by Group Lotus or the Malaysian government.

HRT on Monday announced that Pastor Maldonado will test with the Spanish team on three of the four forthcoming test days in Abu Dhabi.

The news follows reports the 2010 GP2 champion, who is substantially backed by the Venezuelan petroleum company PDVSA, is close to agreeing to race in 2011 with HRT’s new gearbox supplier Williams.

It has already been announced that Maldonado will test the Williams on the remaining day of the tests after next Sunday’s season finale.

Earlier, it was rumoured that Williams’ Finnish test driver Valtteri Bottas, and possibly even Nico Hulkenberg, might be among other candidates to test with HRT in Abu Dhabi.

Hulkenberg, however, is no longer a candidate, given that Maldonado has been scheduled for the whole of the Pirelli test on 19-20 November.

The 23-year-old German is not eligible to test on the young driver days.

Adrian Sutil on Thursday confirmed reports he looks set to stay another season with Force India in 2011.

The German had flirted with moves to Renault or Williams but admitted at Interlagos that he is now leaning towards signing a new deal with his long-time employer.

“The tendency is to (stay at) Force India,” Sutil is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

“We are currently in close talks. I am definitely ready to stay here for another year. The trend is with this team, but it’s not signed yet,” he added.

Sutil said it will take at least another two weeks before the deal is sealed.

“The final decision won’t be made until after the season unfortunately,” he revealed. “I would have wanted it sooner, but it didn’t happen.”

The news is a blow for Nick Heidfeld, who had hoped to move to Force India. The Silverstone based team already has a contract for 2011 with Vitantonio Liuzzi.

“If Sutil is staying there, probably I have no chance with Force India,” confirmed Heidfeld, who is being replaced at Sauber by the Telmex-backed rookie Sergio Perez.

There might be a vacancy at Renault, but the Enstone based team is thought likely to re-sign its well-funded Vitaly Petrov.

Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg’s place at Williams is under threat by the Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, who is backed by state petroleum company PDVSA.

Sir Frank Williams last week spoke highly of Hulkenberg, but the young German pointed out that “with praise I can buy nothing”.

“Williams have told me that there is still a chance (of staying in 2011),” added Hulkenberg.

He is disappointed at the thought of being ousted by his GP2 teammate of 2009.

“In qualifying, I beat him I think 10-0,” noted Hulkenberg.