Pastor Maldonado to continue driving for Lotus F1 in 2016

Lotus F1 will continue to employ the skills of Pastor Maldonado for the 2016 season after the Enstone-based team recently confirmed that they have renewed their contract with the Venezuelan racing driver.

“It’s a positive for the future of Lotus F1 Team that we are able to confirm publicly that Pastor remains with us for next season. Everyone at Enstone will testify that Pastor is a terrific person to work with and we all know the performances he is capable of on track,” said Gerard Lopez, Chairman and Team Principal of Lotus F1.

Lopez even added that Maldonado joined Lotus F1 with a multi-year deal, which cements the team's belief in the racing driver.

On the other hand Maldonado stated that this is great news as there was some speculation about his future in racing. He is heavily backed by Venezuelan state-own oil and natural gas company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). He was GP2 champion in 2010 with Rapax before joining Formula 1.

“It’s great that the team can confirm my position as race driver for 2016. Obviously, there has been a lot of speculation about the future and whilst I have remained focused on my job on track it is also positive to know that my future is confirmed,” said Maldonado.

Maldonado did say that even though the team was hounded by several challenges, he is looking forward of extending his career with Lotus F1.

The Venezuelan has so far finished only 5 of his 13 race starts so far this season.

Fellow teammate Romain Grosjean however is still unsure whether to continue driving for the team as the numerous delays on the planned Renault takeover of Lotus F1 has left the French racing driver thinking of other options. It was previously reported that upcoming Haas F1 team is in talks with Grosjean to switch teams before his contract with Lotus ends.