With the financial muscle of the Venezuelan government behind him, Pastor Maldonado came from nowhere to snatch a Williams race seat from under the nose of the highly rated Nico Hulkenberg for 2011. And despite his performances being neither here nor there in his rookie season, the Grove squad opted to keep him on for the 2012 campaign.
Although many have labelled him a 'pay driver', much to the annoyance of his Williams bosses, Maldonado enters the sport with a big reputation. He was, after all, the 2010 GP2 Champion and a former Champion of Italian Formula Renault. He was also the only driver to have won six successive feature races in a single season in GP2.
The South American's first taste of F1 action was in 2004 when he tested with Minardi. Six years later he was heavily linked with rookies Hispania, but nothing came of the speculation.
However, Williams team boss Frank Williams had long been an admirer of Maldonado, saying he first caught his eye in 2007. His impressive 2010 GP2 campaign convinced the Grove-based team to hand him the driving duties for the Young Drivers Test in Abu Dhabi at the conclusion of the 2010 season.
He clearly did enough during the testing as the team confirmed his signing a few days later and teamed him up with Rubens Barrichello.
Life in Formula One got off to a very difficult start for the Venezuelan as he retired in his first two races in Australia and Malaysia. He finally managed to see the chequered flag in China, but it was from a disappointing P18 spot.
With Williams struggling for pace and reliability, Maldonado was always going to find it difficult to make much of an impact and he had to wait until the 12th race of the season in Belgium to pick up his first point. He came from 21st on the grid to finish 10th. Although there were more encouraging signs during the latter half of the year, it proved to be his one and only point during his debut season.
For Williams, it was a disastrous season and they finished a lowly ninth on the grid. They promised to make changes for 2012 and although there were initial whispers that Maldonado could make way for a "big name", it proved to be nothing more than rumours as the Venezuelan's financial backing was too much for Williams to turn down.
