PASTOR Maldonado is looking to build on his seventh place in this weekend's Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.

Last time out, the Veneuzuelan delivered his Enstone-based Lotus team a points finish for the first time this season in the Canadian Grand Prix and he is determined to build on the result at the Red Bull Ring.

Reflecting on his Montreal display, the Lotus driver said: "Of course it’s good and there’s a lot of potential yet to come.

There are 12 races left in the season, so still a lot of opportunity to do well.

"It’s been frustrating waiting for a points finishing race to come, but now it’s happened it’s like the monkey is off my back and we can push forward for a good season.

"Certainly, it was a positive weekend for the team in Canada and there’s still lots of potential in the season ahead.

"Of course, I couldn’t push flat out as we wanted to keep to a one-stop strategy as that offered the best opportunity for a good result, but everything worked as we wanted it.

"It was good to have an uneventful race and finish in the points.

"There was a fantastic reaction from everyone in the team and it was great to be part of the team at that moment when I walked back to the garage seeing how everyone was happy for me.

"Everyone has worked so hard this year and last year too, so it’s really great when you finish a race in the points."

He added: "We know it’s not the fastest car as the Mercedes performs exceptionally well, but it’s one which we can push hard and put up a fight.

"The other positive is that we seem to be getting on top of all the small reliability issues we had earlier in the year so there’s potential for us to score good points in the races ahead.

"Just like any Grand Prix we’ll be looking to get the maximum from the car.

"You need good power in Austria especially with the decent hill there.

"There are a couple of straights and we’ve been looking good through the speed traps so hopefully we’ll keep that pace. If we can qualify well we should have a great race."

Meanwhile, Chipping Norton-based Sean Walkinshaw is aiming for another strong points finish in the Blancpain Endurance Series at Paul Ricard in southern France on Saturday.

The Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 racer and teammate Craig Dolby bagged a points-scoring double at Silverstone in the last round.

They will be joined by fellow MRS GT-Racing driver Martin Plowman for the six-hour contest in France.

“It’s been a great season so far in both the Sprint and Endurance Series and we’re all feeling pretty confident,” said Walkinshaw.