Pastor Maldonado's seat at Lotus has never been under threat and his sponsors "have paid in advance", according to Federico Gastaldi.
With Renault in the process of taking over Lotus, Maldonado's future was thought to be uncertain as the new owners could opt to change the driver line-up. However, Maldonado was confirmed as staying with the team in 2016 immediately following this year's Singapore Grand Prix.
With Lotus having faced financial difficulties throughout the year, Maldonado's PDVSA sponsorship is vital to the team, but deputy team principal Gastaldi told F1i there has never been a chance he would leave.
“We signed Pastor for three years," Gastaldi said. "[In Singapore] we confirmed him just as a routine we had agreed with his sponsors. We did it last year in Monza. Monza was the previous race before Singapore and we just only announced it a week after that because that’s what’s been agreed on the documents.
"But when I hear people saying ‘Pastor is going here or there’ or something about his sponsors, it has been all normal, all in place, all perfect.
“When I hear about the payments, they have paid in advance. So I don’t know who or why people start inventing those situations. He was signed for three years, the last year is the end of 2016.”
Lotus is now looking for a new team-mate for Maldonado, having admitted it was caught out by Romain Grosjean's decision to move to Haas.
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