In the build up to the British Grand Prix there was a segment on BBC London news in which they interviewed “Young F1 starlet” Max Chilton in the build up to his debut home race.
Whilst we struggle to remember the exact wording of the interview it went something along the lines of “It’s going to be a struggle, but dreams can come true”. This is amusing as Chilton may be having nightmares after being trounced by his team-mate throughout the British Grand Prix weekend.
His biggest issue was qualifying, where he appeared to struggle to get any pace out of the Anglo-Russian machine. He qualified half a second behind Van Der Garde and nearly 2 seconds behind team mate Jules Bianchi.
In a team and sport where the fairest comparison of performance is against the guy in the other car, it was a poor Saturday afternoon and must be somewhat demoralizing. Remember, Bianchi is a rookie also.
With a lack of single lap pace, it wasn’t surprising to see Max fighting with other drivers (and indeed his own car) at the back of the grid. He finished 17th of the 18th classified runners.
This is not a slight on Max – who to all intents and purposes seems like a polite, nice and affable young chap. He’s not a terrible racing driver. But it is a slight on Marussia who probably plucked the young Brit from GP2 a year or two too early. This season remains a steep learning curb.
