It’s the unlucky issue of The Oracle (13), which means it would be ideal to feature an unlucky athlete in this week’s Hall of Fame. We turn to former Venezuelan Formula One (F1) driver Pastor Maldonado, who briefly drove sporting the No. 13 on his car. The Venezuelan began his F1 career in 2011, driving for Williams. The following year, he earned his first and last win in the Spanish Grand Prix in one of F1’s closest seasons yet.
Unfortunately, his struggling FW34 never finished higher than eighth the rest of that year. His move to Lotus in 2014, the first season with No. 13 on his car, saw him driving the uncompetitive E22 that had frequent reliability issues and poor aerodynamics. He scored one point in 2014, and left F1 after the following season which saw him plagued with more reliability issues as he retired early in five out of the first six races and disappointingly collided with his teammate Romain Grosjean twice.
Maldonado incurred an alarming 26 driving penalties in his five season career. His knack for frequently crashing into barriers and fellow drivers in underperforming cars made him a cult legend and a meme in the world of motorsport. In Maldonado’s wise words, “To find the limit, you must cross the limit. I have the big balls to cross the limit every time.”
