Maldonado ready to saddle up in Texas

Pastor Maldonado enjoyed two consecutive top ten finishes in the last two races, bringing his Lotus home in 8th position in Japan and 7th in Russia.

The Venezuelan driver will therefore be looking to continue his progress and capture a spot in the top 6 in Austin as he seeks to extract still more from the team's ever-improving E23 chassis, and at a venue which last year saw his best qualifying result and race performance in 2014.

"Certainly, everything went relatively well for us last year in Austin when you compare the performance to the season we’d been having," Maldo said.

"There’s no reason to say we can’t have a great weekend this year. The circuit shouldn’t pose any particular problems as long as we can get the tyres working as we want. The E23 is a car that generally works well so we have a good baseline to start with. I think Austin offers us a good opportunity."

"At this point of the year we’re pretty on top of things like set-up and getting the most out of the car so it’s a case of getting the laps and simulations done in practice, qualifying as well as possible then targeting points in the race."

Like many of his South American peers who actually race in the US, Maldonado enjoys prolonged stays in Florida, but when the F1 community rolls into Austin, it's the next best thing.

" America is a place I love and I have spent a lot of time in Miami. But Austin is really a fantastic location with a lot to do. It’s certainly the type of city I’d like to visit even if there wasn’t a race there! It’s a really lively place with a lot going on. Great food, great music and great people are three things I think about when we go to Austin. The fans are superb too."

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