Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsLotus F1

Maldonado has 'no preference' about next team mate

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Lotus F1 Team's Pastor Maldonado says he doesn't have any particular favourites in mind when it comes to who will take over as his team mate in 2016.

Romain Grosjean confirmed on Tuesday that he would be joining the new Haas F1 team next year, leaving a vacancy in the second Lotus car. The team's deputy team principal Federico Gastaldi has said that "there are quite a few tasty drivers available out there" with GP2 star Stoffel Vandoorne among the potential candidates.

But Maldonado isn't offering his boss any advice over might succeed Grosjean in the team next season.

"Honestly I have no preference. Throughout your career you work with a variety of team-mates so you get used to working with different people.

"Ultimately, everyone is trying to make the car faster and perform as well as it can for an event, so you’re all working to the same objectives."

More important to the Venezuelan is the overall health of the team, which has been struggling with financial problems from all sides this season.

The signing of a letter of intent by Renault on Monday stating they are in negotiations to buyout the team gives everyone at Lotus - including Maldonado himself - much more hope and optimism about the future.

"This is positive news and I’m looking forward to things progressing here. I’ve worked with Renault in the past and know that they are real racers.

"I know Enstone always works very hard and we’ve seen what the Enstone and Renault combination has achieved in the past.

"Let’s hope there are great things ahead."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.