Maldonado could lose Renault seat to Magnussen

Pastor Maldonado could reportedly lose his Renault drive, with speculation linking former-McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen to the Venezuelan’s race seat.

Lotus, prior to its takeover, confirmed that Maldonado and Jolyon Palmer would fill their two seats for the 2016 season, following Romain Grosjean’s decision to join Haas.

However sources within the team have confirmed that money owed by Maldonado’s sponsor, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA, are now overdue and has been for several months.

Renault could therefore decide to terminate Maldonado’s contract and it’s believed Magnussen is the leading candidate to replace the 30-year-old following a meeting between the Dane and Renault management, in which he was given a tour of their facilities in Enstone last week.

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Whilst a Renault spokesperson branded the reports “speculation” at present, they didn’t deny it could happen in the near future.

“It’s speculation at the moment,” they told the BBC. “We have a contract with Pastor. That is the current situation.

“Who knows what could happen by Australia but, at the moment, we are going forward with Pastor and Jolyon.”

Meanwhile reports in the Danish media suggest Magnussen has found backing from Denmark’s Bestseller A/S clothing company, which owns multiple brands including Jack & Jones.