Recent disagreements between the French manufacturer and Maldonado’s sponsor PDVSA have allegedly led to the Venezuelan driver’s contract being dissolved, and his seat handed over to Kevin Magnussen.
Magnussen is currently on the verge of signing his deal with Renault, though a small window still exists for Maldonado and Renault to come to terms, even though at the moment that seems rather unlikely.
After 5 seasons split between Williams and Lotus, Maldonado is now likely to be without a team and basically removed from Formula 1, unless he finds a way to negotiate with Manor Racing, a team that has not one, but two available seats.
Of course, in order for such a move to take place, Manor would have to negotiate with PDVSA, though the oil and gas company could be weary of staying in Formula 1 considering the economic instability it faces in Venezuela.
Despite Maldonado only scoring 27 points during the 2015 F1 season, his experience could prove quite valuable for an up and coming team such as Manor.
As for Renault, Magnussen is indeed a bright young talent at only 23 years of age. In 2014, he finished the season with 55 points, tied with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and just 4 points shy of Force India’s Sergio Perez.
Story references: autosport
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