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After four seasons slaving away in GP2, Pastor Maldonado was finally been given his Formula One break after taking a dominant victory in the junior series in 2010. In 2011 he had a mixed season for Williams, and his appointment for a second year in 2012 was met with some scepticism as he brings serious money to the team with the backing of Venezuela's national oil company.

But Maldonado isn't just your average pay driver. He started karting at the age of seven and quickly blitzed the Venezuelan junior championships while studying at military school. The next step was Europe, and in 2003 he moved to Italy and competed in Formula Renault 2.0 championships all over the continent. He won the Italian winter series the same year before a successful assault on the more competitive summer championship in 2004.

His titles landed him a test with Minardi at Misano and he was placed in the Renault Driver Development Program the following year. He struggled to find his feet in the Worldseries by Renault in 2005 but nearly took the title in 2006, only missing out after he was disqualified from the race at Misano.

Despite the setback, his performance was enough to earn him a seat at Trident Racing in GP2 the following year and he took victory at just his fourth race meeting with a dominant win on the streets of Monaco. He finished the season 11th overall with 25 points, but had to sit out of the final four rounds of the season after breaking his collarbone training. He improved to fifth in the standings in 2008 with Piquet Sport and took another victory, this time at Spa Francorchamps.

2009 should have been his chance to shine when he secured a drive at the championship-winning ART team. However, he was completely outperformed by his team-mate Hulkenberg, who took the championship at his first attempt while Maldonado finished sixth overall, 66 points off the younger German.

Nevertheless, he started afresh with new team Rapax in 2010 and finally realised his potential in the series by taking the title. He took an unprecedented six victories and had the championship in the bag by the end of the penultimate race weekend at Monza. The win gave him the credentials to knock on the door of F1 motorhomes, but more importantly he had a substantial budget from sponsor PDVSA, which ultimately unlocked the drive at Williams.

He scored just one point in his debut season but the car was as much to blame as he was and he showed some potential by dragging it into the top-ten shootout in qualifying on three occasions. However, it was the odd error, particularly in practice sessions, that caught the most attention and means, perhaps unfairly, he is still seen to be a pay driver first and foremost.

PDVSA's money will continue to back his career at Williams in 2012, but with his rookie year behind him he now has to prove his worth.

Strengths and Weaknesses
He's undoubtedly quick - six wins in GP2 is a tough task no matter who your competitors are - but mistakes are still all too frequent. In F1 his mistakes were exposed so he might be better off knocking the edge off his speed to ensure consistent results.

Career High
Winning the GP2 title after four years of trying. It allowed him to approach F1 teams and persuaded Hugo Chavez's Venezuelan government to put the full weight of its oil money behind him.

Career Low
His 2007 GP2 sprint race at Silverstone. He stalled on the grid, was hit with a penalty for speeding in the pit lane, picked up another for overtaking under yellow flags and finished the race by crashing into Adrian Valles and Kamui Kobayashi.

Quotes
"When I was about three or four years old I said I wanted to race but I was too young, then when I reached the age of seven my father gave me a kart and we started from there."

Chavez on supporting Maldonado: "Sport should not be kept away from politics, it should be supported, like happens in Venezuela."

Trivia
Maldonado has received several awards from Chavez's government in recognition of the charitable work he has done for people living in Venezuela.

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