Marussia has finally confirmed that Max Chilton will remain with the team this year, after the Briton was named on FIA entry list on Friday.
Team sources confirmed to this blog before the end of the season that Chilton would be staying, and the only surprise is how long the official word has taken to come through. Indeed the John Booth quote in the press release sounds like it’s been on file for a while.
It’s the first time that Marussia starts the season without at least one rookie in its line-up.
“Continuity is important for the team but also for me as a driver,” said Chilton. “You learn such a lot in your debut season, but the second year is when you can really pull all of those new experiences together and show your true potential. That has always been the case for me in the junior categories and I’ll be aiming for a similar step in my second year of F1 competition. I would like to thank the Marussia F1 Team for their continued faith and support. They are a great bunch of people who are extremely hard-working and ambitious and I can’t wait to embark on our 2014 season challenge together.”
Team principal Booth added: “In view of next year’s regulation changes, continuity is key, so it is highly beneficial to our technical team that we retain the same driver line-up moving forward. Max had an impressive debut season last year and, of course, achieved a new rookie record for finishing all 19 races.
“He can be justifiably proud of the progress he made through the course of 2013. With our race driver line-up complete we can now focus all of our attentions on our 2014 car and moving the Marussia F1 Team to the next level. After our success in achieving 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship, we have set our sights on a bigger and better 2014 campaign.”
Adam Cooper F1 