We will miss Pastor Maldonado, if reports of his imminent departure from Formula One are correct. He was a wonderful mix of F1 man and dodgem star, the prang-ster among the world’s elite drivers.

Now, however, Maldonado’s career looks set to crash and burn in the way that he has always threatened to do every fortnight through the season, following sponsorship problems with PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company. Kevin Magnussen, the former McLaren driver, stands by to replace him at Renault next season.

Maldonado, or Crashtor as he is affectionately known, has represented a reminder of just how difficult it is to manhandle a car round a tight grand prix circuit at 200mph. Ordinary mortals, who cannot imagine possessing the sublime skills of Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel, can identify with a man who has a website dedicated to him: Has Maldonado Crashed Today? It tells us that he has not crashed for more than 60 days – but then there has not been a Formula One race since the end of November.

Other drivers steer clear of him, if only because his own ability to steer clear is in considerable doubt. In fact, Maldonado’s only conspicuous strength has been his association with PDVSA, which sounds like a veterinary charity but is one of the sport’s most important sponsors, especially if you happen to be a relatively small team, such as Williams and Lotus, where the driver has spent his five years in F1.

Maldonado spent three seasons at Williams, starting in 2011, before moving to Lotus in 2014. Renault, who have taken over the Lotus team after protracted talks last year, will announce their driver lineup in a relaunch jamboree in Paris next Wednesday.

Magnussen drove for McLaren in 2014 but was then demoted to reserve driver to make way for the arrival of Fernando Alonso. In October Magnussen was informed that his contract at McLaren would not be renewed.

Renault have already signed one new driver, with Britain’s Jolyon Palmer coming in to replace Romain Grosjean, who has moved to the new team, Haas.

Renault obviously have a lot of faith in the judgment of the former Red Bull driver Mark Webber, who the other day described Maldonado as the weakest driver on the grid. When Webber was asked to name the worst driver he told Wheels Magazine: “Probably Maldonado. He’s out of his depth and just shouldn’t be there. He’s making up the numbers basically.”

For the record Webber reckons that Vettel, his old team-mate at Red Bull, is the best driver out there followed by Lewis Hamilton and Alonso.

“If you’re talking Formula One, the good boys always find themselves at the front and the good guys always find themselves in the best cars,” he said. “Lewis has always been an incredibly fast, naturally gifted guy in all conditions and he’s very, very insensitive to tracks and to light rain and drizzle. It’s these sorts of things that make the calibre of a very, very fast and phenomenal driver.

Other drivers steer clear of him, if only because his own ability to steer clear is in considerable doubt

“If I had to pick one, I’d probably pick Sebastian, in terms of pulling the whole juggernaut together and getting the whole team going, which I think he will do at Ferrari shortly.”

And there you have it. Most would agree with Webber that Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso are the top three, in whatever order. Then there is a big gap. The same judges would place poor old Crashtor at the back – but it was fun while it lasted.