Maldonado: I can battle for points with a clean race

Pastor Maldonado is confident once he enjoys a trouble-free Grand Prix he can put his Lotus in the points, after suffering two retirements from two races in 2015.

Despite an impressive start off the starting grid, the Venezuelan was involved in a first-lap incident with Williams driver Valtteri Bottas. The collision saw Maldonado suffer a punctured rear and forced him into an early pitstop, putting him dead last. Once he re-joined the race, the Lotus driver began to fight has was through the pack but was forced to retire nine laps from the end with brake problems.

Maldonado has endured a miserable start to 2015, with his failure to finish in Sepang compounding the disappointment he suffered at the Australian Grand Prix when he crashed at the second corner on the first lap of the new season.

The Venezuelan racer has now failed to finish in the first two races in four of his five Formula 1 seasons, stretching back to his time with Williams, whom he made his Formula 1 debut with in 2011.

However, the former F1 race winner is certain if he can have a clear race he will be able to steer his Lotus E23 Hybrid into a top-10 finish.

"As soon as we have a clean race, we will be fighting for good points," Maldonado said. "The potential is clearly there, especially in the race where the car pace is very competitive and we can score good points.

"Unfortunately, there was an incident on the first lap which lost me a lot of time and compromised the race from then on. Despite dropping to the very back of the field, we switched to a different strategy and we recovered well."

Maldonado explained he was forced to retire for the second Grand Prix in a row after suffering brake problems midway through the race.

"Unfortunately, we suffered from a brake issue, which isn't great but it's effectively our first race and we need to keep working through issues, ready for the next Grand Prix," he said.