NEWTON, Iowa - The driver who was rumored to be in the frame for a Verizon IndyCar Series race seat at the start of the year is present at a Verizon IndyCar Series weekend now.
Pastor Maldonado, the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix winner who was left sidelined when Renault Sport took over what was the Lotus F1 team at the start of the year, is on site at this weekend’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway.
He was spotted in the KVSH Racing pits during first practice and was invited by the team co-owned by Kevin Kalkhoven, Jimmy Vasser and James “Sulli” Sullivan for this weekend.
We spotted @Pastormaldo hanging out in the @KVSHRacing pit today at @iowaspeedway. #INDYCAR #IowaCorn300 pic.twitter.com/8QGaaALtv7
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 9, 2016
While there was a significant Venezuelan presence in the sport when E.J. Viso raced - and did so with KV for several years - the Venezuelan presence has been absent in recent years.
Maldonado says he is “taking in the race weekend” and was somewhat coy in terms of noting his interest in racing in IndyCar, but didn’t rule it out.
“I was very interested to see how the Indy works,” Maldonado told NBC Sports. “I got the invitation from the team and it’s very interesting. I have so many friends here from Europe, starting with Juan Pablo (Montoya), then so many other drivers. It’s quite interesting to see how the series is organized. And then maybe I didn’t choose the best track to come, but it’s nice even to see this old-fashioned American style.”
Asked whether he was close to racing here this year, Maldonado didn’t deny it, but didn’t admit it either.
“At the moment we are not looking to race here, but for sure I’m looking around to solve my situation,” he said. “First option is of course Formula 1, because I’ve been very involved in the past few years there. This year I’m fully involved in the tire development.”
Maldonado also confirmed he has been undertaking Pirelli tire testing this year, as outlined above.
We pondered whether Alexander Rossi’s success in North America this year was anything Maldonado took note of.
“I’ve been racing even two years ago, Rossi when he did a few races in Formula 1 I think,” he said. “He’s a good driver. He showed his consistency in GP2 as well which is a very tough category in Europe. He’s showing very good potential. It’s not easy. It’s kind of different concept of racing. But I think any good driver from Europe can adapt easily to a decent style. The same in the other way around, any good driver from here can adapt themselves to Europe style.”
Anyway, since Maldonado’s now been at an IndyCar race, watch this space to see what happens for him in the future.
We caught up with a surprise visitor to the #IndyCar paddock, Pastor Maldonado: https://t.co/mHkLu19EaL pic.twitter.com/63OqeVXxVX
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) July 9, 2016