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Maldonado looking forward to more victories

Pastor Maldonado became the first Venezuelan to win a grand prix in Formula One history © Sutton Images

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Pastor Maldonado believes Williams can continue to win races and thinks "everything is possible" if the team can focus on a couple of its car's problem areas.

Maldonado took Williams' first victory since 2004 at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, holding off Fernando Alonso's Ferrari to become the fifth different winner for a different team this season. The result was just his second points finish of the championship so far, but leapfrogged him to ninth in the drivers' championship, 32 points off joint leaders Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.

Asked if he now saw himself and Williams as championship contenders, Maldonado said: "For sure we are a little bit backwards compared with the leaders, with Fernando and Vettel, but we need to keep working.

"We are not the best team at the moment. The car looked pretty good today, but I think we need to keep pushing some particulars at Williams, especially in the car, but everything is possible. The gaps are so close at the moment, I'm driving well, I have a good feeling with the team, with the car, so everything is possible.

"For sure we are looking to do our best, looking forward to winning some races, to getting a couple more podiums and I'm really happy because the team hasn't won many races for many years so this is a great moment for us. I hope to continue like that."

Maldonado believes Williams has become stronger since restructuring its technical staff over the winter and is now starting to realise its true potential.

"We made big changes in the factory, we have new staff in some of the departments and completely changed the approach to building the car. I need to say that this year's car has great performance, great potential to become even stronger than it is and for sure, this is great for motivation, to motivate the team, the factory, to keep pushing like that. I think this is the way. We are motivated and we need to keep pushing."

Maldonado became the first Venezuelan to win a grand prix and is looking forward to seeing the reaction in his home country.

"I can imagine that there will be a party everywhere but I don't know at the moment. I need to see some of the fans, my family there. I think everybody who saw the race and for sure all the people are happy at the moment and this is great for Venezuela after nearly thirty years without any driver in Formula One, so I think it's a great moment for our country."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.