I have written several times before about Donington Park, and about The Donington Collection, the fantastic museum of Formula One cars and other vehciles located at the race course. On previous visits for lunch, I have been lucky enough to see various activities including Ayrton Senna’s first Toleman Formula One car make its way out of the museum. My trip there today revealed the museum’s latest exhibit, Pastor Maldonado’s 2011 Williams FW33 Formula One car.
2011 was Pastor Maldonado’s first year as a Formula One driver, and he was teamed with the hugely experienced and popular Reubens Barrichello at Williams. It certainly was not an easy year for the team, with Reubens scoring four points with 9th places in Monaco and Montreal, and Pastor’s single point coming from a 10th place finish at Spa in Belgium, putting Williams in 9th place from the 12 teams competing that year.
Among the wonderful aspects of a museum like Donington that gives such close access to the cars is the ability to review the micro detail like the small Senna logo visible on the front of the car.
The Donington Collection has cars going back to the early days of motor sport, and the addition of the FW33 is proof that there are also plenty of more recent cars and exhibits for the fans of modern day motor racing. As I always say when talking or writing about the Donington Collection, if you are a fan of motor sport and have not been, then you should visit.
As I had only popped in for lunch, I had nothing more complex than my camera phone to take photos of the car, but I’m sure that I will return soon with a proper camera to get some better photos. In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy these.
UPDATE: I have popped back – any excuse for a trip to Donington! – and taken a few more photos, this time with a camera rather than just a phone.
