Motorsport.com has learned that the Venezuelan is pursuing a road and street course program with the Kevin Kalkhoven/Jimmy Vasser-owned squad, which has scored four wins over the past three seasons with Sebastien Bourdais.

However, the 2012 Spanish GP winner is not interested in racing on ovals. He attended last year's IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway as a guest of former Williams F1 colleague, Adam Parr, who now works for Cosworth, which is owned by Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe.

Should a deal occur, therefore, it leaves KV looking for a driver for the six ovals on the IndyCar schedule this year, or possibly an Indy 500-only drive, should the team elect to race only part-time.

However, the long-mooted partnership between KV and Carlin is now looking very tenuous, given that Trevor Carlin has revealed he is unlikely to expand his team to IndyCar in 2017 and that he’s not keen on joining IndyCar on a part-time basis, nor in running different drivers through his debut season in the series.

KV’s team equipment and assets have been packed up in its shop in Indianapolis, but have not been sold, despite Carlin admitting, “I’m still tempted because it’s really good quality stuff and a very reasonable price. It would be a nice headstart.”

All but three KV team members, meanwhile, have been disbanded and should Kalkhoven fail to reach an agreement with Maldonado, it is understood that the team’s 14th season in Indy car racing was its last.