Pastor Maldonado to be a driver steward at the Bahrain GP


(Photo credit: Jake Archibald)

The former Lotus driver went quiet after being dropped at the beginning of the 2016 season with Kevin Magnussen taking his place in the newly formed Renault F1 team. But it was recently announced that Maldonado would join the DragonSpeed WEC team this season. In addition, he has also been given an opportunity to work in his old F1 environment at Bahrain this weekend.

Interestingly, he revealed it was not the only F1 job he got offered in the last couple of months: "The FIA contacted me for a safety advisor position and Sauber even offered me a development driver role, but I prefer being on track, involved in the competition."

However, he feels that the driver steward role suits him well because of the experience he can bring in: "When I was a Formula One driver the stewards often invited me often to their meetings and I feel I can help them improve their decision making process." He added: "It will be an interesting experience being on the other side, since I can understand the driver's perspective." 

The man who the stewards once blamed him for an on-track incident continued: "I mean, you do the best you can, but then you get a five or ten place grid penalty for nothing. Many times I couldn't unleash my full potential because the following race was compromised."

Returning to Bahrain, the Venezuelan driver remembers the time when he famously collided with the Esteban Gutierrez' Sauber causing the Mexican to flip over, only to receive a five grid penalty for the following race.

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