Malaysian GP: Pastor Maldonado says Williams's gains only small
Pastor Maldonado has ruled out fighting for a spot in Q3 in the Malaysian Grand Prix despite admitting his Williams feels slightly better than in Australia


The Grove-based squad failed to live up to expectations in the season opener as both Maldonado and team-mate Valtteri Bottas struggled for pace.
Maldonado said the warmer temperature at Sepang had improved matters for Williams, but he conceded his car is still not competitive enough to fight for a top-10 grid slot.
"It's a bit better now, but still difficult. It's completely different situations, different tracks, different conditions," said Maldonado after posting the 16th fastest time in second practice.
"It's quite difficult to understand all the problems that we have. It's difficult to find the solution. I think it's going to be a hard weekend for us, but we need to wait for the race. Anything can happen and we need to be ready for whatever happens.
"We improved the car a little bit. We will improve for qualifying tomorrow, but we are still far away from the target.
"Q3 is looking far way, and points we'll see. Anything can happen in the race. We need to be consistent and try to get 100 per cent out of what we have."
The Williams driver claimed his team understood what was wrong with the FW35, but admitted it was proving very hard to find solutions.
"We know what is happening with the car. We don't know how to solve the problems. We tried different things. We improved a little bit, but there is still a lot to do."

Malaysian GP practice quotes: Caterham
Malaysian GP practice quotes: McLaren

Latest news
How Ferrari’s Monaco headache became its Silverstone migraine
OPINION: Ferrari won the British Grand Prix with Carlos Sainz, but it ultimately cost Charles Leclerc a chance to make a bigger dent in Max Verstappen's title lead by leaving the Monegasque out on old tyres towards the end. Like Monaco, indecision over strategy proved to be the Scuderia's biggest issue - and if the team doesn't reflect, the headache can only intensify
The five factors behind Sainz winning a British GP he’d twice lost
Formula 1 has a newest race winner, in a grand prix the victor appeared to have lost twice, only to charge back to headline a sensational and dramatic British Grand Prix. From a massive start crash to a late sprint finish, here’s how five factors saw Carlos Sainz take his maiden grand prix win
Why there was no case to answer in Aston’s latest F1 copycat saga
The appearance of a revised Aston Martin in Spain caused controversy but PAT SYMONDS explains why the FIA investigation found the Silverstone team had no case to answer
Why it's Red Bull that really leads a three-way fight so far at Silverstone
After a slow start to Friday at Silverstone, all the Formula 1 teams had to effectively cram in a day’s worth of practice into one hour. But there was still plenty to learn and while Ferrari topped the times, a three-way battle is brewing ahead of the British Grand Prix
Why the future is bright for the British GP
It wasn’t so long ago the situation looked bleak at Silverstone with the future of the British Grand Prix under threat. But a transformation has seen it restored to one of the most important races on the Formula 1 calendar, with bigger and better to come
Could mixed fortunes for F1's leading Brits turn around at Silverstone?
For the first time in many years, none of the local racers starts among the favourites for the British Grand Prix. But George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris could have reasons for optimism
Verstappen exclusive: Why F1’s champion isn’t fazed by Silverstone return
Max Verstappen is the world’s number one racing driver… and he’s determined to keep it that way. Speaking exclusively to GP Racing's OLEG KARPOV, the Red Bull driver explains why he’s relishing the 2022 championship battle with Charles Leclerc – and why he’s not worried about returning to Silverstone, the scene of the biggest accident of his career last year
Why Red Bull’s RB17 hypercar can help its F1 team
On Tuesday, Red Bull laid out its plans to develop and build a new hypercar - the RB17 - penned by Adrian Newey. As the project itself sates Newey as a creative outlet, it also offers Red Bull's Formula 1 team a number of new and exciting avenues to pursue