Maldonado buoyed by Williams form despite disappointing exit in Australian GP

Maldonado had a very strong race in Melbourne and was fighting for fifth place with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso when he crashed out on the final lap of the event.

Despite the disappointment, Maldonado says he is feeling very confident about the performance of his team at the start of the season.

"We have been working so hard all winter, on our performance in the car, I feel very confident with the team, so I am looking forward," said Maldonado at Sepang.

"I think we can still be so competitive, even though it's early to say. But it is a good start in the season and I am looking forward. We in the team are pushing so hard, so feel confident."

Maldonado admitted he was sorry to have missed out on a chance to start the season scoring valuable points, but the Venezuelan has vowed to move on and focus on this weekend's race in Malaysia.

The Williams driver conceded the crash in Australia was purely his fault.

"For sure all the team, even myself, are a bit disappointed because we missed a great opportunity to score some important points," he said. "But this is racing. It was a mistake from my side. We need to look forward, turn the page and I think our car is competitive at the moment.

"We need to keep pushing like that, concentrate, keep focused - this will be a new challenge for us because track is completely different but we need to believe in our performance and hopefully again we will be in top ten and fighting for good places."

He added: "It was a difficult moment for me, because I was chasing Fernando, he was a great fighter and very clean, on the last lap I was too close on the kerb and I just lose the car. It was a shame for the team and myself - but there was nothing to do but I'm looking forward. It is a new change and a new challenge."