Ladies and gentlemen, Pastor Maldonado is back. Sadly for Pastor fans, he’s not bagged himself an F1 driver but instead become a crash-test dummy tyre tester for Pirelli.
According to Motorsport.com, the Venezuelan has been called up by Pirelli to test their tyres for 2017. Maldonado reportedly drove a GP2 car fitted with 2017 prototype tyres around Mugello for a couple of days before running an additional day in Barcelona, a track he took his sole F1 win at in 2012.
It’s the first time the grand prix winner has been back behind the wheel after he was dropped by Renault ahead of the season after his sponsor, Venezuelan oil firm PDVSA, couldn’t pay the bills.
Pirelli will prepare for the 2017 regulations mix-up with a number of in-season test days throughout the season.