- Lotus
No regrets about leaving Williams - Maldonado
Pastor Maldonado says he has no regrets about leaving Williams for Lotus this year, despite both teams experiencing a reverse in fortunes over the winter.
Maldonado's old team Williams heads to the first race in Australia as one of the favourites after a hugely disappointing season in 2013, while Lotus, which won races last year, arrives in Australia with the least amount of laps in testing of all the teams. But Maldonado suspects Williams' advantage is mainly linked to its switch to Mercedes engines and believes Lotus is still capable of producing a race-winning car.
"For sure they [Williams] have a good car," he said. "They have been working quite hard from what they had last year - that's obvious. I think now from the aerodynamic point of view it's more easy and I think the car is very similar to what we had last year and the engine is making the difference at the moment. For sure the car is not bad, but they have a good help from the engine.
"For me, I'm in a good team too. It's a good team and they have been winning in the past as well, so hopefully it's good too."
Asked if he had any regrets, Maldonado said: "No worries, let's [get down to] work. I need to know the team even better and it's quite soon to say something. But looking to the past, I think Lotus is a great team and they have a good factory and good facilities, so why not have a good car?"
Towards the end of his relationship with Williams, Maldonado was not afraid to criticise the team and admits that is a part of his character.
"For sure in the past I had a very bad experience sometimes, but sometimes I had a very good experience. It's normal that you can have bad days, not only for the driver but even for the team. I am like that: human and not a robot like you [the media], like all of you. It's normal, everyone can have a bad day and I had four bad days in Bahrain, but here I am, very optimistic and looking forward and positive while working very hard with my team.
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