Driver

Pastor Maldonado is an uncut diamond, which needs copious amounts of polishing to unleash his capacity as a Formula 1 driver. Tagged as a pay driver, with support from Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Maldonado made his point after his gave Williams its first race win in eight years in 2012, beating the likes of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen at the Spanish Grand Prix. But that achievement slid down as quickly as it had risen, with the Venezuelan becoming the driver who was penalised the most in that season. Maldonado made his Formula 1 debut when he joined Williams for the 2011 season and has remained with the British team since. A champion in GP2, Maldonado has had his share of incidents on his way to the top, and those moments have been hard for him to shed off. At the Belgian GP, in his debut season, his aggressive nature was on display when he bunted Lewis Hamilton's McLaren during qualifying, blaming the Briton for losing out on a better time. He is yet to calm down, as witnessed in the 2012 season, after his aggressive driving style saw him either banging into fellow competitors or the barriers. But if there's one reason for Maldonado to continue in F1, then that's hope; hope that he will continue to shine as he did on the 66 laps of the Catalunya circuit during his maiden victory.