Rookie Max Chilton has admitted he would prefer to have Timo Glock as his teammate in 2013.
Actually, Marussia dispensed with German Glock’s experienced services in favour of a ‘pay driver’ — another rookie in the form of Brazilian Luiz Razia. “It is not ideal,” Briton Chilton is quoted by Germany’s motorsport-total.com. “I had been looking forward to being Timo’s teammate, because of his vast experience.”
Chilton, 21, acknowledged however that he is sure the team will not encounter any serious “problems” as the result of its all-new driver lineup. “Unless we were all capable, we would not be in formula one,” he insisted. In fact, he thinks that – in some ways – it could be an advantage for both himself and Razia, who is 23. “Neither of us are number one or number two, so the team will treat us the same,” said Chilton.
The British broadcaster Sky quoted McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh as saying it’s “sad” there are so many pay-drivers in F1 now who are arguably “fundamentally not good enough” to be on the grid. But his Sauber counterpart Monisha Kaltenborn, who is arguing strongly for cost-cutting action in F1, said labelling young drivers like that is not fair. “There has always been fluctuation on the grid and nobody was harping on about pay drivers,” she told the sport’s official website. “Everybody who comes into formula one is on a high level and if there are only a limited number of seats, then of course every team is looking for the best option. Who wouldn’t?”
Info: GMM, Image: Marussia F1 Team
