The Chinese Grand Prix race stewards have cleared Lotus’s Pastor Maldonado to start the race from the pitlane after the Venezuelan failed to participate in qualifying.
Lotus discovered a problem with his car on Saturday morning which required several hours to fix. He was therefore unable to get on track.
The stewards will allow Maldonado to start the race having “set a satisfactory time during practice at this event,” read a statement.
Maldonado’s team-mate, Romain Grosjean, starts the race from tenth having secured the team’s best position so far this season after the Frenchman made the best of the wet conditions.
