F1: Maldonado Surprised With Second In Singapore

Formula 1

F1: Maldonado Surprised With Second In Singapore

Pastor Maldonado is looking to build on a strong qualifying run in Singapore...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted September 22, 2012 Marina Bay (SGP)

Pastor Maldonado drew the ire of the FIA more than once last season. (Photo: Getty Images/AFP)

Pastor Maldonado proved to be the surprise package in Singapore as the Williams driver earned second on the grid, having been only 16th in the final FP3 practice session.

Maldonado qualified second in Spain – where a penalty for Lewis Hamilton handed him pole – and was third fastest in Valencia. He hasn’t scored any points since his Barcelona victory.

“During the practice we were a little bit lost with the setup and, yeah, we were improving, especially during the qualifying, just trying to adapt the car to my style,” said the Venezuelan. “I’m really looking forward to the race because yesterday we showed very good pace, very consistent, so I think it’s going to be a good one for us this time.”

Maldonado stressed that the car had performed well on a very different track compared to the location of his win.

“It’s completely different than Barcelona, especially because of the lack of grip,” he said. “We were struggling a little bit to put the car together but, including the qualifying, we managed to find a very good balance, and we are really looking forward to tomorrow. Yesterday we did a couple of long runs, and it’s looking pretty good for us, the tire degradation.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.