Max Chilton

[Bradgate]

Has been confirmed as a race driver for Marussia in 2014. That's 3 British drivers on the grid for this year.

Congratulations Max!

[McClure]

Yes, congratulations for offering to pay more money to drive a Marussia than any other half-decent racing driver.

[Bradgate]

Point taken, but if the back 5 rows of the grid has to be comprised of pay drivers, I would prefer that at least one of them is British. No-one is suggesting that Max is the next Vettel, but he did a solid job in the second half of last season.

[anonymous-user]

Bradgate said:

Point taken, but if the back 5 rows of the grid has to be comprised of pay drivers, I would prefer that at least one of them is British. No-one is suggesting that Max is the next Vettel, but he did a solid job in the second half of last season.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that he's even the next Taki Inoue.

Face it. He got hammered by his rookie team mate, himself hardly sought after by the bigger teams. Only out qualified him twice when Bianchi had car trouble and injury and only once beat him in a race.

He only there because daddy's buying into the team, shouldn't be there, and is an embarrassment to modern F1.

There are far better British drivers, with far better records, they're the ones who should be representing us, not the likes of Chilton.

[MG CHRIS]

REALIST123 said:

Bradgate said:

Point taken, but if the back 5 rows of the grid has to be comprised of pay drivers, I would prefer that at least one of them is British. No-one is suggesting that Max is the next Vettel, but he did a solid job in the second half of last season.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that he's even the next Taki Inoue.

Face it. He got hammered by his rookie team mate, himself hardly sought after by the bigger teams. Only out qualified him twice when Bianchi had car trouble and injury and only once beat him in a race.

He only there because daddy's buying into the team, shouldn't be there, and is an embarrassment to modern F1.

There are far better British drivers, with far better records, they're the ones who should be representing us, not the likes of Chilton.

And that money helps the team stay in the championship the 20milion? that his father has invested in the team helps keep it afloat and another brit cant be a bad thing yes they are better drivers but without the cash it wont happen and as always been like that.

[Jasandjules]

Let's hope he at least matches his team mate.

[poppopbangbang]

REALIST123 said:

He only there because daddy's buying into the team, shouldn't be there, and is an embarrassment to modern F1.

There are far better British drivers, with far better records, they're the ones who should be representing us, not the likes of Chilton.

Maybe they should get their st together then and come up with the required funds for a drive? Do you honestly think we do this for free? Maybe some sort of motorsport charity effort where the costs involved are just happily forgotten by all the many thousands of people involved in building a current F1 car? It's a business and we all need to live off the back of it. Any team would love to be in a posistion to hire the very best talent out there but the harsh reality is the world's buggered, money is tight and money for motorsport even tighter.

Pay drivers exist in every form of motorsport from club to pro yet people again and again seem outraged that you can buy a drive in F1..... if you're good enough to have gained a super licence which is a pretty good indication that you're quite handy in a pointy roundy, roundy car how you go about gaining a seat doesn't matter a jot. For us back in the day it meant we all still had jobs at the end of January!

[joewilliams]

I'm pretty sure that today's crop of "pay drivers" are closer to the champions on the grid than at any time in the past.

[Durzel]

poppopbangbang said:

Maybe they should get their st together then and come up with the required funds for a drive?

This is basically the problem.

It should be on merit, not available funds. I'd sooner see a non English driver on the grid that is there through merit and have the teams sponsored (or rich enough) than a token UK guy whose Dad happens to have deep pockets as a driver.

It's a shambles that at the very top level of the sport you've basically got no chance of breaking in without significant personal sponsorship, with thugs like Maldonado still around because they do.

[C Lee Farquar]

I was interested to read that Fangio was also a State sponsored pay driver.

[phugleigh]

Good luck Max !

[Lordbenny]

Aint half handy when your Dad pays for you and your bro to drive racing cars!

[designndrive62]

REALIST123 said:

I don't think anyone is suggesting that he's even the next Taki Inoue.

Face it. He got hammered by his rookie team mate, himself hardly sought after by the bigger teams.

Last I heard and from what I saw of his route to F1 Bianchi is actually one of the top up and coming drivers. He is the top driver in the ferrari programme at the moment too if im correct. I really dislike Max but I believe Bianchi is better than you give him credit for.

[NRS]

Durzel said:

poppopbangbang said:

Maybe they should get their st together then and come up with the required funds for a drive?

This is basically the problem.

It should be on merit, not available funds. I'd sooner see a non English driver on the grid that is there through merit and have the teams sponsored (or rich enough) than a token UK guy whose Dad happens to have deep pockets as a driver.

It's a shambles that at the very top level of the sport you've basically got no chance of breaking in without significant personal sponsorship, with thugs like Maldonado still around because they do.

I agree with you, but the reality is it has almost never been this way. And you mention it's a shambles at the top level of the sport... yet what is F1's background? Rich playboys who were a bit bored and pumped lots of money into their cars to race. It's not like it's a new thing. It's just become popular to complain about it.

[Megaflow]

It isn't even daddy's money anymore. Daddy had a successful insurance company, and made himself a mint by selling it to AON, and now gets AON to shell out the cash.

Cute.

We had a Graduate at work who did some placement work with a touring car team, and he said his brother can't drive for toffee, has a real reputation for knackering gearboxes.

ETA: It would appear Daddy has just quit AON to start something new, I wonder how long the kids contracts are for...

Edited by Megaflow on Sunday 12th January 14:25

[supertouring]

I am sure all the haters would refuse an F1 drive if daddy was paying.

Good luck to him.

[Mojocvh]

Well good luck to him, living the dream indeed.

[PhillipM]

Durzel said:

This is basically the problem.

It should be on merit, not available funds. I'd sooner see a non English driver on the grid that is there through merit and have the teams sponsored (or rich enough) than a token UK guy whose Dad happens to have deep pockets as a driver.

As much as I hate it, it's never, ever been on merit, even down in the junior karts and clubman events, motorsport is, and has always been "how big is your wallet?"

[RealSquirrels]

joewilliams said:

I'm pretty sure that today's crop of "pay drivers" are closer to the champions on the grid than at any time in the past.

i'm pretty sure that the race pace of the cars is so limited by the tyres that the best drivers don't get a chance to capitalise on their advantage.

[deadslow]

Shocked to see so many applauding a guy who is only diluting the quality of a great sport. Maybe there ought to be a separate series for spoilt rich kids.