Pastor Maldonado says he has been the victim of other drivers’ mistakes in the opening two races of the season.

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The Venezuelan driver crashed out of the first race in Melbourne at the second corner when he was tapped in to a spin by Felipe Nasr’s Sauber. That was followed up by a puncture on the opening lap in Malaysia when Valtteri Bottas made contact with the rear of the Lotus and Maldonado says he feels hard done by so far this season.

“The first corner of a Grand Prix is always thrilling as you have to balance the opportunities to make up places with the risk of losing them,” Maldonado said. “Certainly in the first two races this season I’ve been the victim of other drivers’ incidents and that’s racing sometimes.

“The first corners in Shanghai are quite interesting as you’ve got a decent run down to the right-hander that is turn one, but that flows straight into the tightening turn two so it can get pretty busy!”

Despite two disappointing results for him personally, Maldonado says he is encouraged by the potential of the Lotus this season and expects similar competitiveness in China.

“I think we should be in a similar position to that we’ve been in for the first and second race, so fighting for the top ten in qualifying and then in the race. Let’s see what the track conditions are like, the weather, how the car feels and how good a set-up we can get. I’m confident we should be fighting for good places.”

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