Pastor Maldonado keen to stay on at Williams despite struggles

The Venezuelan has endured a tough campaign, with Williams yet to score a point so far, but still sees reason to believe in a future with the Grove-based outfit.

"I really want to continue here," explained Maldonado. "It is one of the best places for a young driver to be.

"For sure we are not happy with the results of this year. We struggled quite a lot to improve the car and be competitive, but everyone knows that - everyone saw what we have this year.

"But I think the team have a great future, with great potential, and there is no point to change."

Maldonado has faith that a technical reshuffle at the team - with Pat Symonds arriving to replace Mike Coughlan - will start paying dividends before the end of this season.

And he also has no doubts that the facilities at Williams are good enough to help the team turn the corner on its troubles.

"When I started to drive for Williams, I saw the car, I saw the factory, and I saw the history of the team," he said. "It was important for me to become part of this team.

"We achieved one good victory last year and I think if we achieved one, we can achieve two or three or four. We just need to work harder together, the potential is there."

Despite his desire to stay at Williams, Maldonado says his focus is not in finalising a deal but in getting the team further up the grid.

"At the moment I have been not concentrating on the contract of next year," he said. "We have an order in the team which is to work very hard to fix the problem and improve our performance.

"It is what we have been doing, and further forward [in time] we can look at next year. There is always time."

Maldonado has strong ties with Williams sponsor PDVSA, which has been with the outfit for the past two seasons.