On the face of it, 35 starts, no points is not very impressive. However once you begin to scratch the surface, Max Chilton's F1 career with Marussia was actually quite impressive.
The Marussia team at the time of Chilton's career were unmistakably a backmarker team who struggled massively for points or good results.
Chilton made his official F1 debut during the free practice 1 at the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix having previously tested for Force India in 2011 at a Silverstone Young Driver test and in a straight line aerodynamic test.
He'd be announced as a full time driver from 2013 and would race for the team through '13 and '14 until the team entered administration in late 2014.
📸 Chilton was with Marussia first as a test and reserve driver and then a full team seat for the best part of 2 seasons.
Chilton would make 35 appearances for Marussia, becoming a symbol of consistency as he finished his races in 32 of the 35 outings he had, suffering accidents in two races at Montreal and Monza, and failing to finish at Sochi in 2014 with suspension damage in what proved to be Marussia's final race. In his rookie year in 2013, he became the first rookie driver to finish every race he started(19/19).
📸 Chilton holds the record of being the only rookie to finish every race of their rookie year.
Chilton was linked either the reformed 'Manor Marussia' team for 2015 but the team and Chilton opted to go different avenues. Chilton later revealed he'd held talks with Haas before they joined the 2016 grid about joining the team.
📸 Haas opted for Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez as they joined the F1 grid in 2016, but held talks with Chilton.
Post F1, Chilton moved to America in 2015 to race in Indy Lights with Carlin Motorsport, where he'd finish 5th overall and earn a move up to IndyCar with Chip Ganassi for 2016 and through 2017. He'd then return to Carlin's IndyCar setup from 2018 through 2021, with a best series finish of 11th and a best race finish of 4th in the 2017 Indy 500, where he also led 50 laps of the prestigious race.
Outside of these events, Chilton would also go on to set the record time for infamous Goodwood hillclimb event.
📸 Chilton set the hillclimb record in this McMurtry Automotive machine.
Chilton remains on my 'to interview' list, so Max if you're reading...
Thanks for reading!
📸 Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited, Sky Sports, NTT IndyCar Series, Goodwood.
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