Gallery: Maldonado’s carbon fibre nightmares

Yesterday Pastor Maldonado confirmed that he would not feature on the F1 grid in 2016, following reported financial problems between Renault and his Venezuelan sponsors.

‘Crashtor’, as he is, um, affectionately known, departs the sport after five seasons, racing first for Williams from 2011 and then for Lotus from 2014 onwards.

He leaves behind a controversial legacy, having developed a reputation for causing collisions during his 95 grand prix stars. Not all of them were entirely his fault, but a retirement rate of 29% suggests that his own decision making had more than something to do with his poor track record.

He managed just 14 top ten finishes all told, with a third of his career point tally coming from that one remarkable win at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2012.

With his F1 career seemingly at an end (for the time being, at least), here’s a brief recap of those classic moments of recklessness...

Pastor la vista, baby!

(Sorry)

Pastor scored just one point in his debut year with Williams. He ended the season embedded in a wall at Interlagos after crashing out of his own accord on lap 28. It was a sign of things to come.

The first of many incidents in Monte Carlo, where he was once banned for crashing into a steward. Here he can be seen moments after driving into the back of Pedro de la Rosa, who also had to retire.

The Wall of Champions in Montreal has claimed many great names. It’s also claimed Maldonado, who ran into it during qualifying in 2012.

2012 was a mixed year for Maldonado. In Belgium his victim took the form of Timo Glock on lap 5. Pastor got a penalty for his troubles.

Start as you mean to go on. Maldonado began the 2013 season with a spin, completely unassisted on lap 25.

This was a biggie. On lap 44 Max Chilton strayed into Pastor’s path, breaking his front wing and sending him into the barriers. Maldonado wasn’t hurt, and Chilton got a penalty.

Belgium was another luckless circuit for the Venezuelan. In the 2013 grand prix he had two collisions during the race, with Force India's Paul di Resta forced to retire in the latter accident.

Peak Maldonado. Esteban Gutierrez was happily minding his own business in Bahrain when Maldonado misjudged a corner, briefly turning the Mexican upside down. Naturally, he got a penalty.

Gutierrez gets his revenge. Sort of. After getting Pastor airborne, the Mexican ran off the road with damage of his own and eventually retired. Worth it? Probably not.

One of an array of incidents last season, though he wasn’t culpable for all of them. At Spa there was no one else to blame, however, after a big off during practice followed by another crash during the race itself. The team said the race day impact was 17G. Ouch.

... the Spanish Grand Prix in 2012, where Williams got everything right during the weekend to set Pastor up for victory on the Sunday.

Maldonado’s greatest achievement to date, not least because he proved that anyone on the grid is capable of taking the chequered flag given the right set of circumstances.

For that, Pastor, we can’t thank you enough.