Maldonado To Lotus - Confirmed

[Jem of the Shire 0]

Let the bashing begin...

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/473040/Lotus_confirm_Maldonado/

[Insider 0]

They deserve each other.

[mikathegreat2 2]

Desperate times call for desperate measures!

[Emmcee 0]

What a joke, hey lotus you could've signed me, I would have driven for free.

[Massa 0]

What a joke, hey lotus you could've signed me, I would have driven for free.

Which is a cost of $40,000,000 more than Maldonado, or so they say.

Tell me all about the Grand Prix you won. And the GP2 title!

You know, Maldonado improved a lot in 2013...

...but what let me down was that in the final two races, he reverted back to his old driving, the dangerous kind. Maybe the area to improve upon, then, would be control of emotions in the work environment. He was so frustrated with Williams, and stressed about his future. His driving worsened at that time.

But beyond that, 2013 was the kind of season that no one wanted to notice because no one wants to have a fair opinion of the guy.

I hope he does well, only because it will force you guys to get creative in how you dismiss what he's doing.

Sounds like Sutil will go to Sauber now, then. Gutiérrez or Felipe Nasr to partner.

[mikathegreat2 2]

Which is a cost of $40,000,000 more than Maldonado, or so they say.

Tell me all about the Grand Prix you won. And the GP2 title!

You know, Maldonado improved a lot in 2013...

...but what let me down was that in the final two races, he reverted back to his old driving, the dangerous kind. Maybe the area to improve upon, then, would be control of emotions in the work environment. He was so frustrated with Williams, and stressed about his future. His driving worsened at that time.

But beyond that, 2013 was the kind of season that no one wanted to notice because no one wants to have a fair opinion of the guy.

I hope he does well, only because it will force you guys to get creative in how you dismiss what he's doing.

Sounds like Sutil will go to Sauber now, then. Gutiérrez or Felipe Nasr to partner.

Isn't Sergey Sirotkin confirmed at Sauber for 2014, possibly partnering Sutil?

[Emmcee 0]

Which is a cost of $40,000,000 more than Maldonado, or so they say.

Tell me all about the Grand Prix you won. And the GP2 title!

You know, Maldonado improved a lot in 2013...

...but what let me down was that in the final two races, he reverted back to his old driving, the dangerous kind. Maybe the area to improve upon, then, would be control of emotions in the work environment. He was so frustrated with Williams, and stressed about his future. His driving worsened at that time.

But beyond that, 2013 was the kind of season that no one wanted to notice because no one wants to have a fair opinion of the guy.

I hope he does well, only because it will force you guys to get creative in how you dismiss what he's doing.

Sounds like Sutil will go to Sauber now, then. Gutiérrez or Felipe Nasr to partner.

Mate where have you been? He has been regularly outpaced by his rookie teammate Bottas. His comments about his team, about how he "deserves" a top seat, about how he would love to stay at Williams, about how he would rather stay at home than drive for Williams again,about how he said he would dominate more than Vettel if he had the Redbull. He is a bloody idiot, if he could just shut that fat mouth of his and focus more on driving, he would be quite a frequent points scorer. But to think that he is this good and deserves this and that, he needs a kick up the backside. I know lotus need money and Marinara has the dough, but this is when I think the FIA need to put together some sort of task force to ensure teams are allocating there funds to the appropriate providers. This I think would help teams from folding so soon and being able to keep a steady,full grid of regular teams. This "pay for a seat" crap and drivers not being paid, had gone to far. And to distroy such an iconic name like lotus is beyond me.

[rodders47 2]

Well I think that Lotus and Maldonado deserve each other........... Lotus still holding out hopes for Quantum sponsorship !!!!............. and well Maldonado aint likely to get a drive anywhere else.......... so why not pair up........... and Lotus to become one of the backmarker teams next year

[Emmcee 0]

I will withdraw my comment about Maldonado, if he can keep up with Grosjean, and I mean consistanly to. He has a tough task at hand, Grosjean is maturing very nicely into quite a quick driver, and as of next year, is getting what he wants, a chance to lead a team on his own. He could flourish. As I Beleive once he notches his first win, he will be seriously hard to beat.

[jestaudio 0]

I wonder how much of the money he brings Lotus have had to put aside for all the body parts he will trash , Lotus must be desperate for money or why else would you sign a driver with his track record and gobby attitude

[Emmcee 0]

This story here, sums up Maldonado and Lotus in a nutshell.

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/473075/Maldonado_to_Lotus_highlights_flaws_in_F18242s_model/

[chaso 0]

This story here, sums up Maldonado and Lotus in a nutshell.

http://www.gptoday.c..._F18242s_model/

Excellent read. I do agree that these sort of "short-term" solutions by employing a driver with large financial backing is detrimental to the possibility of an even stronger grid had more capable drivers been given the chance. Unfortunately, I really can't ignore Maldonado's speed. If Spain was a fluke and he held off Alonso with luck, then the goal to win races is simply not a valuable measure of a driver's talent in the c#ckpit. I do not care for Maldonado's antics behind the wheel when he's frustrated, nor do I ever come to his defense when he's clearly in the wrong and he denies it, but he deserves a shot just as much as anyone else on the current grid. Yes, there are others who I believe deserve it more (The Hulk, Sail-Bottas, and Spaghet-Bianchi), but none of them have won. Therefore, his deep pockets and race win clearly put him in good light to Boullier. I just don't think he's going to be able to live up to Raikkonen OR Grosjean's abilities. These guys are top-notch. Grosjean will be in the running next year if Lotus can develop a sustainable business model to support development with the regulation changes. Where will that leave Crashtor? That's why this is a GOOD move for Lotus; he'll be trying like hell.

[KoolMonkey 0]

/Professor Farnsworth... GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!!

Loving it. Lotus and Maldonado deserve each other. All that I care about now is that Kimi will get paid. Then we can see how next year turns out with GRO and Crashtor.

GRO did impress at the back end of this season, but it also exactly co-incided with Lotus sulking and being disrespectful to Kimi. Thus I'll wait for next year to see how he goes for me view on him proper. It's too convenient to say he outpaced Kimi at the backend of this year, when it was clear by that a**hole Permaine how they felt about him. Thus you can imagine they would not have been giving Kimi the tweaks and setup changes he required, or listening to him. Funny that as some months earlier, they were ready to have his babies. I don't think they in any way sabotaged Kimi's car, but I don't think they did anything to help him, and put all their attention onto GRO. I don't believe in co-incidences. Thus GRO's sudden epic form alongside Kimi's apparent decline means something was going on inside of Lotus to cause this. Kimi had driven all year without getting paid, so if anyone wants to mention he lacked motivation, I got some prime ocean real estate in Arizona I want to sell you.

[dribbler 6]

Maldonado is a prick.

Merry Christmas.

[mikathegreat2 2]

Maldonado is a prick.

Merry Christmas.

[Emmcee 0]

Maldonado is a prick.

Merry Christmas.

No he isn't, he is a muppet.

[KoolMonkey 0]

That's an insult to The Muppets! I know it's an English term often used to describe an idiot or moron, but when you think about it, there's not a single unlikable thing about The Muppets. Pretty much every character is loveable. So it's rather a poor comparison to Crashtor really.

I don't find anything lovable about Maldonado. Not even in a rogue ish kind of way. His attitude, everything about the guy rubs me the wrong way entirely.

Maybe if you had compared to Maldonado to the Kardashians, or Bieber or even that lunatic Miley Cyrus, I'd be in too agreement with you.

[Emmcee 0]

I was trying to find a muppet with a big chin, but instead come across Aussie puppet "agro", much better fit IMO.

[KoolMonkey 0]

Well there was that one nutter muppet that kept running around blowing things up. I liked him.

[Emmcee 0]

I Beleive this is him?

[KoolMonkey 0]

No not Beaker, the one I'm referring to is Crazy Harry.

[Jem of the Shire 0]

You can't take away his Spain win, he was perfect all weekend. But every noticeable Maldonado-moment ever since has been for the wrong reasons.

I think he has flashes of good pace but nowhere consistently enough, and I think he will get trounced by Grosjean in 2014. I will be happy to hold my hands up and admit I was wrong this time next year if he proves me wrong!

It's all a bit like an 80-yr old billionaire dating a 25-yr old model - you'd surely be thinking "she's only with me for the money..." and you'd have to have no self-respect to stick with that. Or, in Pastor's case, enough arrogance that he probably is in complete denial that he got that drive because of the money, and is 100% certain he's there because of his god-like ability.

[chaso 0]

From the things he likes to say in interviews, he seems like one of the least humble drivers around - this is my main issue with him. Yes, accidents accidents and accidents are a problem, too, but if he starts winning, maybe we'll be able to tolerate him. Until then, my money is on Grosjean. I don't think Maldonado is worth the hype, but I won't know if he can put his money where his mouth is until next year.

[Emmcee 0]

No way, Grosjean will smash him, he has be regularly out paced by a rookie in a car Maldonado had developed for the past 3 yrs.