• Korean Grand Prix

Maldonado wants Williams stay

ESPN Staff
October 11, 2012 « Webber accepts Grosjean apology | Kobayashi in need of a sponsor to stay in F1 »
Pastor Maldonado believes Williams "is getting better and better every day" © Sutton Images
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Pastor Maldonado says he wants to stay at Williams next season, having kept his options open last weekend.

In Japan Maldonado said that "At the moment, for sure, there is the chance to go to other teams" in 2013, as negotiations with Williams continued. However, following the re-election of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez - which should ensure the ongoing backing of PDVSA - Maldonado has now said his desire is to remain with Williams.

"To be honest I really want to stay in Williams because it's a good team," Maldonado said. "The team is getting better and better every day, we've been rebuilding everything in the team and now I think it's more compact. The car is looking better and better every day so good confidence with them, but at the moment there is no confirmation so I am looking forward to seeing that, otherwise I'm looking forward to remaining in Formula One, for sure."

Looking ahead to this weekend's Korean Grand Prix, Maldonado said maximising the car's qualifying potential would be crucial for Williams.

"I hope to have a competitive car, and a part of that is to especially be quite competitive in qualifying. We missed a couple of tenths in the last qualifying in Suzuka to get in to qualifying three; it was a good pace in the race but we are really looking here to be in qualy three and very competitive, but it's very difficult to exactly know where we'll be."

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