From GMM and Grande Premio
According to a top Brazilian web site, Venezuelan GP2 driver Pastor Maldonado has signed a deal to race alongside Rubens Barrichello at Williams in 2011.
That is the claim of Warm Up, the electronic version of Brazil's Grande Premio publication.
The report said Maldonado, the newly crowned GP2 champion, will replace German driver Nico Hulkenberg, a protégé of businessman Willi Weber, Michael Schumacher’s former manager.
The 25-year-old Maldonado reportedly inked the contract in the second week of October in Caracas, in the presence of a top official of the Grove based team and Maldonado's sponsor PDVSA, the state-owned petroleum company.
The report said Williams essentially had no choice, amid the prospect of losing four main sponsors - RBS, Philips, AirAsia and McGregor – at the end of the current season as their current contracts end at the conclusion of the 2010 season.
PDVSA will reportedly pay EUR 15 million for Maldonado's seat.
Williams has apparently been contacted for comment.
According to a top Brazilian web site, Venezuelan GP2 driver Pastor Maldonado has signed a deal to race alongside Rubens Barrichello at Williams in 2011.
That is the claim of Warm Up, the electronic version of Brazil's Grande Premio publication.
The report said Maldonado, the newly crowned GP2 champion, will replace German driver Nico Hulkenberg, a protégé of businessman Willi Weber, Michael Schumacher’s former manager.
The 25-year-old Maldonado reportedly inked the contract in the second week of October in Caracas, in the presence of a top official of the Grove based team and Maldonado's sponsor PDVSA, the state-owned petroleum company.
The report said Williams essentially had no choice, amid the prospect of losing four main sponsors - RBS, Philips, AirAsia and McGregor – at the end of the current season as their current contracts end at the conclusion of the 2010 season.
PDVSA will reportedly pay EUR 15 million for Maldonado's seat.
Williams has apparently been contacted for comment.