There have been many rumors that have suggested that Pastor Maldonado would be leaving Renault and Kevin Magnussen would be taking over his position on the team. After weeks of speculation about the future of Maldonado’s career in Formula One, the Venezuelan driver has confirmed his fate.
Maldonado is the highest scoring of two other Formula One drivers from Venezuela in the sport’s history. He is most commonly known by his nickname “Crashtor”, which was given to him by Formula One fans because of his frequent mistakes behind the wheel. In fact, he is arguably one of the most well-known figures in the sport of Formula One, as a collection of memes about him are in virtually every Formula One or motorsport related forum. On Monday, he turned to Twitter to confirm that he will not be with Renault in the 2016 season.
It is speculated that Renault decision was influenced by a lack of sponsorship money from PDVSA, a Venezuelan oil company and Maldonado’s long term partnership. These rumors have yet to have been confirmed. Racing Clothesline reached out to PDVSA for comment, but they did not respond.
Kevin Magnussen is the most likely candidate for Maldonado’s seat with Renault. Magnussen was relieved of duty from McLaren last season, after being demoted to the team test driver to make room for their new lineup of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. However, Magnussen has not been confirmed as Renault’s new driver, although it can be expected to occur soon.
It is still unclear what Maldonado’s plans are for 2016, in terms of a motorsport contract. With the only open seats in Formula One being on the Manor F1 Team, it is unlikely that we will see him in Formula One in 2016 or the foreseeable future. He will be a much missed face in the sport of Formula One.
