Maldonado happy to be leaving Williams

Despite not having a new team lined up for next season Pastor Maldonado is pleased to be leaving Williams at the end of the year.

The 28-year-old Venezuelan has forced his way out of the team after a poor run of form this season.

After winning his first race last season, Williams have failed to compete during 2013, with Maldonado and Williams scoring their one and only point from the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Williams have moved to replace Maldonado with outgoing Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, while Valtteri Bottas.

‘I’m very happy. I wanted to leave the team, and I’m happy about that. Maldonado told Sky Sports.

‘It’s been a tough year, very hard for the whole team, but personally I want to drive something different.

‘This is an important time for me in my career. It’s a tough decision – my decision – but a great one.

‘Overall, I feel I delivered more to the team than they did for me. We had a victory, some good results last year, and even this year we’ve done well in some races, but this is not everything. I’m waiting and expecting something more from Formula One.’

Maldonado had been in talks with Lotus and it was thought that a contract with the team had been drawn up for next season.

However with Lotus now close to completing their investment deal with Quantum consortium, they now appear to have shifted focus to Nico Hulkenberg.

Another option for Maldonado could be a move to Sauber, with Maldonado’s sponsorship with Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company PDVSA helping the move.

Sauber have struggled financially this season and have been linked with a number of drivers to aid the teams income.

A deal has been struck with a number of Russian companies which could lead to either Sergey Sirotkin or Vitaly Petrov taking one of the seats, while Mexican Telemex communications company could engineer either an extension for Esteban Gutierrez or a return to the team for Sergio Perez now that he has confirmed that he will be leaving McLaren.

However with Maldonado’s PDVSA sponsorship believed to be worth around £30million-a-season, Sauber’s options could be extended.