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Despite the recent death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Martin Brundle and Damon Hill insist that Pastor Maldonado‘s future in F1 is secure.
The Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has been a major sponsor of the Williams F1 team and also a huge supporter of Maldonado’s career.
Following the death of the President, speculations regarding Maldonado’s career not being supported by the state henceforth began to come up.
However, Brundle believes that the 27-year-old has become an idol in his country. Having won the Spanish Grand Prix last year, Maldonado has brought a lot of good fortune to his country, and also his sponsors.
“He became a national hero for winning the Spanish GP last year and I think that has been good for Venezuela and good for his sponsors, so why would they want to run away? Obviously politics may well play a part but I think he has shown he has tremendous speed.” said the 53-year-old former F1 racer.
Agreeing with his colleague, Damon Hill went on to say, “I can’t see that the sponsorship is under threat, I am sure there is a contract anyway. I think Pastor Maldonado has shown that he is a Grand Prix winner and is extremely fast.”
