Maldonado looking at other series if F1 plans fail

Pastor Maldonado says he would be keen to look at other motorsport categories such as FIA WEC, DTM, IndyCar and Formula E, should his plans to make a Formula One return in 2017 fall through.

The Venezuelan had a contract with Renault for 2016 but was eventually replaced by Kevin Magnussen in the wake of sponsorship issues. Although coming back to F1 remains his number one priority,  Maldonado admits to contemplating other avenues.

“We are working for a plan B because you never know in F1,” he told Autosport. “We are looking around as there are many interesting series in Europe, even in the USA which is an alternative.

“WEC is very interesting and there is DTM which is interesting. There is IndyCar, which is a single-seater car and more my style. So these three series plus Formula E are possibilities. We'll see.”

Should Maldonado succeed in returning to F1, the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix winner is confident he will not have trouble getting back up to speed after one season on the sidelines.

“I’ve seen many other drivers in the same conditions, Magnussen [in 2015] was one and Hulkenberg [in 2011] was one too.

“Even Kimi [Raikkonen] was one of them in the same conditions and they are back and back even stronger.”

Besides working on his F1 return, Maldonado has been busy helping Pirelli develop its 2017-spec tyres so far this year.

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