Spanish GP winner Pastor Maldonado says drivers can make a difference in F1 now

The Spanish Grand Prix winner, speaking at the Williams factory on Thursday, likened the current situation to the GP2 series, with more drivers and cars able to be competitive and nobody having a decisive advantage.

"It has become like a GP2 championship," said Maldonado. "The drivers can make the difference and the teams can still work on the strategy and the car.

"It's a bit boring when you see one car winning. The season is more competitive."

Maldonado added that despite criticism by the likes of Michael Schumacher and Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz about the tyres, it is still satisfying to win races under the current rules.

"The tyre degradation is quite big and it is true that you need to manage them," said Maldonado.

"This is part of the race and it's the same for everybody. There are no easy races. We need to adapt to the tyres, to the rules, to the car."

The Venezuelan added that the Williams team's understanding of the tyres played a key part in its success in Spain.

The way that he managed the rubber in the final stint in particular while under pressure from Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso was a decisive factor in his victory.

"The Pirellis are working quite well on our car at the moment," he said. "We have degradation, but it's the same for everybody.

"We've been working on the tyres. We built the car around the tyres and developed it around them.

"We understand very well how to do it [manage the tyres] especially on the driving [style] and the engineers managing the setup of the car."

Maldonado is confident that Williams could fight for further wins this season. He underlined that the team is getting stronger as the season goes on, although it's difficult to predict anything because of how rapidly the competitive order is changing.

"We will do our best," said Maldonado when asked if he could win again. "All of the teams are so close, the championship is so close and the gaps are close as well.

"But we are getting better every time. At the moment, we don't have the quickest car on the track but we are doing our best.

"Why not [win again]? But Formula 1 is changing all of the time. It's going to be difficult."