Max Chilton found himself unexpectedly on top of the times following a rain-hit start to testing in Barcelona.
The Marussia driver put his name at the top of the times in the final minutes of a session which had begun on a wet track and saw a further shower later on in the day.
The day’s running was interrupted by several red flags, including one when Kimi Raikkonen spun his Ferrari at turn four. The floor of the F14 T had to be replaced, and that plus a power unit change earlier in the day and the disruption caused by the wet weather meant Ferrari estimated they had only completed half of their planned workload.
Kamui Kobayashi caused another of the day’s red flags with a substantial crash at turn three.
“There is quite a lot of damage to the car so I’m sorry for the guys in the garage who now have a long night ahead to fix the car,” he said, “but the only good thing is that it was at the end of the day after we’d got through most of the runplan”.
Giedo van der Garde did the most running in the mixed conditions but ended the day bottom of the times for Sauber. He spent the day evaluating hard tyre compounds for Pirelli as part of their test programme.
| Driver | Car | Best time | Laps | Difference | ||
| 1 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari MR03 | 1’26.434 | 60 | ||
| 2 | Charles Pic | Lotus-Renault E22 | 1’26.661 | 70 | 0.227 | |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes W05 | 1’26.674 | 79 | 0.240 | |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari F14 T | 1’26.965 | 21 | 0.531 | |
| 5 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault STR9 | 1’27.724 | 52 | 1.290 | |
| 6 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes VJM07 | 1’27.727 | 53 | 1.293 | |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes FW36 | 1’27.756 | 55 | 1.322 | |
| 8 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes MP4-29 | 1’28.333 | 74 | 1.899 | |
| 9 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault CT05 | 1’30.101 | 72 | 3.667 | |
| 10 | Sebastien Buemi | Red Bull-Renault RB10 | 1’31.440 | 54 | 5.006 | |
| 11 | Giedo van der Garde | Sauber-Ferrari C33 | 1’31.783 | 86 | 5.349 |
2014 F1 season
- Which was F1’s best down-to-the-wire title fight?
- Fear of rules change led Mercedes to run dominant 2014 engine in “idle mode”
- Mercedes’ Bahrain battle “too dangerous” – Warwick
- Streiff’s comments on Bianchi crash investigation prompts legal action from FIA
- Is stewarding improving? Analysing 2014’s penalties
Browse all 2014 F1 season articles
Image © Marussia
Kibblesworth (@kibblesworth)
13th May 2014, 18:01
Er…what?
BJ (@beejis60)
13th May 2014, 18:06
Supersoft tires: makes the slowest teams look fast
Ivan B (@njoydesign)
13th May 2014, 18:09
4 second difference between medium and supersoft, not too shabby
BasCB (@bascb)
14th May 2014, 7:32
Given that he was also several seconds faster than in Qualifying for the race, I guess the car might have been a bit light on ballast too @beejis60
gwenouille (@gwenouille)
13th May 2014, 18:01
Huh ? That’s 3 seconds better that his quali time. What is going on ?
gwenouille (@gwenouille)
13th May 2014, 18:02
And Charles Pic must be gutted too. That was some great opportunity to make the headline… until he got chiltoned.
Todfod (@todfod)
13th May 2014, 19:05
Genius phrase.
I think if you finish a race in last place, but are still happy with the fact that you are classified in front of DNFs, you just pulled a Chilton.
gwenouille (@gwenouille)
13th May 2014, 21:00
Thanks !
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
13th May 2014, 18:04
Good enough for 4th on the GP grid.. I’m foxed.. Lotus, Ferrari, Toro Rosso and Caterham all only gained a quarter of a second on their Q times..
Amir
13th May 2014, 19:28
haha! that indeed is a genius phrase. Will that be the basis of a new fly on the wall F1 documentary / prank show I wonder? “you’ve just got Chiltoned!”
gwenouille (@gwenouille)
13th May 2014, 21:01
Thanks too. I am pleased that it pleases !
Antonio Rossi (@bnm123)
13th May 2014, 18:03
Chilton used the supersoft tires where as the others used soft and medium tires
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
13th May 2014, 18:05
Ah, in preparation for Monaco.. well, that’s some step up in grip!
dennis (@dennis)
14th May 2014, 8:33
Chilton uses supersoft tyres. It’s super-effective.
Burkenheim (@burkenheim)
13th May 2014, 18:04
Ha looks like Marussia has been holding back all this time
John H (@john-h)
13th May 2014, 19:18
Sandbagging for 4 1/2 years… now the pace has been unleashed.
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
14th May 2014, 3:15
XD
iAltair (@)
13th May 2014, 18:05
What Vettel? What Hamilton? What previous previous WDC drivers?
Max is the new kid in town!
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
13th May 2014, 18:06
Chilton v Hamilton for the championship!!!
Kodongo (@kodongo)
13th May 2014, 19:25
HAMILTON vs. CHILTON
Fastest Driver vs. Finishingest Driver
100 points vs. 100%
Eye of the Tiger vs. Lives of a Feline
Only one will prevail…
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
13th May 2014, 21:57
@osvaldas31 Chilton: “My dad will win me that”
Mayank (@mjf1fan)
13th May 2014, 19:51
He will breeze past Hamilton in that Marrusia. :P
The title is already decided and we dont even need Abu Double for that :D
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
13th May 2014, 20:05
I don’t care, I won’t be watching because the cars aren’t loud enough.
dennis (@dennis)
14th May 2014, 8:34
Marussia probably gained 2 seconds thanks to their new shotgun exhaust.
Mercedes only put a baseball-card into the wheel spokes for more noise.
Michael C
13th May 2014, 18:11
F1 is so boring now that Marussia are dominating I feel like throwing my remote at the tv. FIA have messed up the rules. Jeez, even my granny could win in a Marussia. I’m going to watch some po- Indycar instead.
D (@f190)
13th May 2014, 18:19
Jules Bianchi is now mentally destroyed… I just don’t know how he can come back from this.
John H (@john-h)
13th May 2014, 19:20
“Chilton will not break me”, says Marussia’s Jules Bianchi.
Michael C
13th May 2014, 19:37
*storm clouds gather* “It is not YOUR mind I must break” says Max, “But the very people you rely on, your Engineers” *thunderbolt crackles the air*
Illusive (@illusive)
14th May 2014, 6:28
hahaha brilliant
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
14th May 2014, 3:25
XD
Eddie (@wackyracer)
13th May 2014, 18:30
Why shouldn’t Marussia win?
Lee Sharp
13th May 2014, 19:17
you issue with indycar is what exactly?
Michael C
13th May 2014, 19:31
The atrocity which is the spelling ability from their fans.
Jon Aspinwall
13th May 2014, 22:11
Hey know, play nise! I lick indicar and I spel just fin thanc u. AMuricams ain’t as dum as u thinc we r.
Michael C
13th May 2014, 22:59
Apologies. I have nothing bad to say about Indy. Just used it as an example!
dodge5847 (@)
13th May 2014, 19:30
awesome, made me laugh, maybe they running some illegal parts? lol
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
14th May 2014, 3:16
traction control maybe .
Rambler
14th May 2014, 5:36
Chilton is driving so well right now. He’s so on form. No one can beat Chilton except Chilton.
Dane
13th May 2014, 18:19
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. Today was probably the highlight of his career.
niedsche
15th May 2014, 0:34
hahaha how very true
Morty Vicar (@mortyvicar)
13th May 2014, 18:20
Chilton comes in for a bit of flack but he’s not a bad driver: he’s beaten Bianchi fair and square, and he’s no slouch. Maybe he’s not in Hamilton’s league (probably only Alonso is) but he’s not the worst either.
P J Squeak (@pjsqueak)
13th May 2014, 21:02
Hear, hear.
Much like how ‘Minardi’ had a following because they were jolly good chaps (even though they never won anything), I think Max should have a following, because, at the end of the day, he is not such a bad driver. He has completed every F1 race he has entered, and it would be amazing if he could become the driver with the longest winning streak of all time. I believe that he is over half way on that quest, but, in an era when the front is dominated in quite a boring way by one team or another, the question ‘will Max complete another race?’ is more tantalising than Lewis beating Nico.
I find that some of the nepotism and ‘daddy money’ in the sport detracts, however, in Max’s case, I don’t have a problem. He also puts in work for sponsors and he is a regular guy, for some reason I find his Twitter stream oddly fascinating.
There is nothing unfortunate in an ‘Eddie the Eagle’ way about Max, yet he does have this slight ‘imposter syndrome’ air to him. Anyway, I urge everyone to support the guy and count themselves as a fan.
Jordan Groves
13th May 2014, 21:23
I don’t like the ‘statistic’ of Chilton finishing every race he’s competed in… I wouldn’t call 3 laps down finishing a race..
dennis (@dennis)
14th May 2014, 8:30
Agreed, but let’s be honest, he would have finished those 3 laps, too if he got the chance.
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
14th May 2014, 3:23
I like that he has been beating his much hyped teammate . But I’m not the guy who will vote DOTW for Chilton :P .
HK (@me4me)
13th May 2014, 18:21
Chilton found a shortcut? :P
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
13th May 2014, 20:01
He took the 2006 layout! ;) @me4me
plutoniumhunter (@plutoniumhunter)
13th May 2014, 18:35
It’s official. The universe is broken.
just.daz (@nemo87)
13th May 2014, 18:36
Marussia’s new upgrades included a Flux-Capacitor.
Quant
13th May 2014, 20:02
You mean a turbo encabulator ;-)
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
14th May 2014, 3:24
or impulse thrusters
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
13th May 2014, 18:40
I’d like to see a side-by-side onboard clip of Chilton’s lap to say, someone mid-grid at Barcelona at the weekend.
Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
13th May 2014, 18:41
I am confused and frightened.
andae23 (@andae23)
13th May 2014, 19:42
I share that sentiment.
praxis (@praxis)
14th May 2014, 12:03
Me too.
NickF12013 (@nickf12013)
13th May 2014, 18:41
Oh perfect now we’re on for a Chilton domination. I hope Mercedes will respond to that I don’t want him to run with the champinship so easily.
gwenouille (@gwenouille)
13th May 2014, 20:59
Excellent. I love that cold, measured humour !
Aquataz68
14th May 2014, 12:54
I’ve enjoyed these comments more than several ’14 races !!!!!
Aquataz68
14th May 2014, 12:55
The best thing Marussia has done for the season so far !
iAltair (@)
13th May 2014, 18:47
Redbull is 5s slower than Marussia.
Newey be fired.
Robbie (@robbie)
13th May 2014, 18:51
Lol, there are some funnier comments here than in some of the Caption Competitions.
Damonw
13th May 2014, 18:57
To all you whiners out there complaining about how slow this years cars are, it’s not the cars it’s the tyres!
Robbie (@robbie)
13th May 2014, 19:28
It’s also about less downforce, a steep learning curve, limited fuel, engine and gearbox conservation, and how the mix of the ingredients affects each other. I think if you wanted to just boil it down to tires and play woulda coulda shoulda you could say that with different tires the cars in every season could have been faster.
Damonw
13th May 2014, 21:07
The tyres are also about a compound harder this year also, the gap was so large at Spain mostly due to the lack of downforce though.
Todfod (@todfod)
13th May 2014, 19:09
Max can retire from the sport this weekend with his head held high.
There aren’t a lot of drivers who finished every race in their rookie year, and even fewer who topped the time sheets in a non race weekend test session in a backmarking car.
Hats off to Chilton!
Watch out Lewis!
R.J. O'Connell (@rjoconnell)
13th May 2014, 19:32
Moss. Clark. Hill. Stewart. Mansell. Hamilton. Button. And now, Chilton.
dennis (@dennis)
14th May 2014, 8:36
One of these is not like the others.
Oh right, Stewart is a scotsman… :P
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
13th May 2014, 20:04
Who was the Marussia driver who set the fastest time in free practice a few years back? Or was it when they were Virgin? D’Ambrosio at Spa?
Deej92 (@deej92)
13th May 2014, 22:51
Pic at Spa.
th13teen
13th May 2014, 20:26
Am I the only one who wants to know seriously…What about the new noise on the Mercedes…were they running the new exhaust or not???
DaveD (@daved)
13th May 2014, 20:51
Why do you think Lewis was back in 3rd! LOL Seriously, that is a good question.
Player One (@blackarrow)
13th May 2014, 21:33
Tomorrow
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
13th May 2014, 20:38
Another feat in the bag! :)
Salcrich
13th May 2014, 20:49
If we stand back from all the p— taking I think Chilton should be given some credit. Sure he will probably never be a top driver but he has steadily improved and is now becoming a good match for Bianchi, he hasn’t binned the car in over a season and has kept out of trouble when more esteemed names have been picking up penalties, AND whichever way you cut it the record book says that he topped the times in a wet testing. I’m sure Keith could create a list as long as your arm of F1 entrants who have done very very much worse.
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
13th May 2014, 21:05
That’s very true, unlike his teammate this season, Chilton has delivered what has been required, to bring the car home safely. He’s even beat him in a qualifying session or two and is even ahead of a certain Lotus driver in the Championship!
DaveD (@daved)
13th May 2014, 23:53
I think the ribbing towards Chilton is all meant in good natured kidding (at least it is for me). I’m very happy to see Max have some good things happen and he has steadily improved and deserves some credit for what he’s done this year. He’s even beaten Bianchi and the Caterham drivers heads up this year in a few sessions and Qualifying.
Actually, I was just thinking about him this morning and a comparison to the late Paul Newman. Hear me out: I remember reading an article written by Newman’s driving coach. He said that at first Newman was slow and “really not very good” and he thought he was just being paid to be nice and humor the Hollywood guy who thought he was a racer. After all, “Anyone who turns out to be great, starts by driveing like a maniac until they learn to stop crashing because they’re so eager to go fast and win”.
But then a funny thing happened. Newman began to slowly and steadily improve to the point he became a respectable endurance driver. He never thought it would happen, but it was just his personality and it was different. Maybe Max is like that? Maybe he is different from the Hamilton’s and the Alonso’s of the world. Maybe he’s one of those cautious personalities that just keeps building?
It’s a nice thought anyway. And Max seems to be a good kid so I’m happy to see him do good things no matter how big or small.
petebaldwin (@)
14th May 2014, 0:06
Bianchi is no mug either – he’s a solid driver and part of the Ferrari development programme. There are lots of drivers on the grid who I don’t believe are as quick as Bianchi is. To be honest, I think the jokes on here are all just a bit of fun – I think most people are delighted for Chilton and Marussia even though it doesn’t really mean a lot…
We all know why Chilton is in F1 but despite a worrying start, he’s done a good job and has consistently improved which is all you can ask of him. His record of finishing every race shows he’s doing something right!
DaveD (@daved)
13th May 2014, 20:51
The Chilton comments are brilliant! I love F1Fanatic…There is always someone on here that can make me laugh! Thanks guys :)
gwenouille (@gwenouille)
13th May 2014, 21:04
Yes, some very very funny posts in this thread ! I loved it too.
petebaldwin (@)
13th May 2014, 23:43
@daved – To be fair, even Marussia are joining in! haha
https://twitter.com/Marussia_F1Team/status/466248783035396097
DaveD (@daved)
13th May 2014, 23:45
@petebaldwin That is awesome! Thanks for sharing the link :)
I think it’s all in good fun and we’re actually happy to see Max have some good luck. It’s just funny to see him in P1 after all this.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
13th May 2014, 20:51
You should had Tweet button in F1F article, @keithcollantine ….
An article of “Chilton Tercepat di Hari Pertama” had been tweet 1500 times an hour after it had published at 1:30 am local time.
In a country that had no live F1 coverage…
trotter
13th May 2014, 20:52
I wanted to say out of the joke that I hope Raikkonen doesn’t thrash this car too, but then I read that he in fact really thrashed it. At least they had a new floor at hand, unlike in Bahrain.
Rigi (@rigi)
13th May 2014, 20:53
today is a weird day. when i got up in the morning i tried putting gloves instead of socks on my feet. then i got home to look at this article.
Clive Allen (@clive-allen)
13th May 2014, 21:06
You guys just don’t understand the Minardi factor. Underdogs are meant to be cheered for and even the smallest triumph celebrated. Max is clearly one of the greatest underdogs ever and England should be flying the flag at his brave victory today. This could be the start of a storybook rise to fame and fortune, after all. Here’s to Max at his finest hour (to date)!
Peter (@boylep6)
13th May 2014, 22:51
are you clive of f1insight fame?
First activity I’ve seen of you in many years. Welcome back and I miss your
well thought out and intelligent posts.
Would love to hear more from you!
But besides that — best wishes.
Peter
Clive Allen (@clive-allen)
14th May 2014, 2:32
I suppose I must admit it – yes, that’s me. Thank you for remembering me, Peter. It has been a long silence indeed. Funny thing is, I disappeared about the time we got rid of old Mad Max and now that we have a new, bright and shiny Max, here I am again! It’s not intended but I can’t help but feel there must be something in the coincidence… ;)
petebaldwin (@)
13th May 2014, 23:39
@clive-allen – Well said! First Eddie the Eagle and now Chilton the Cheetah!
Rigi (@rigi)
13th May 2014, 21:06
what numbers were pic and buemi using?
ken (@whatevz)
13th May 2014, 22:44
Pic – 30
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/photo/main-gallery/charles-pic-third-driver-lotus-f1-team-14/?sz=2&r=8030&s=2&id=1700219&i=19
Buemi – 15
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/photo/main-gallery/sebastien-buemi-third-driver-red-bull-racing-8/?sz=2&r=8030&s=2&id=1700184&i=54
Robert McKay
13th May 2014, 21:37
Well, if this isn’t one of the signs of the impending apocalypse, I don’t know what is.
petebaldwin (@)
13th May 2014, 23:37
Haha that’s amazing! Good work Max! :D
Also, good to see that Pic is clearly capable of doing a decent job once Maldonado gets banned.
petebaldwin (@)
13th May 2014, 23:37
Haha that’s amazing! Good work Max! :D
Also, good to see that Pic is clearly capable of doing a decent job once Maldonado gets banned.
DaveD (@daved)
13th May 2014, 23:57
Yeah, I keep waiting to see when Lotus passes some threshold of “Maldanado’s” so they can bench him without losing the PVDSA money! I mean, surely after you suffer 10 “Maldanado’s” in a season, you should be able to bench him without penalty from sponsors? Right? LOL
At that point, we’ll see what Pic and do with a car capable of scoring points.
petebaldwin (@)
14th May 2014, 0:09
Haha love it. They should just add it to the penalty points list:
1 point for an avoidable accident.
1 point for an unsafe release
3 points for a “Maldonado”.
joolsy (@joolsy)
14th May 2014, 0:14
Clearly the reversing magnetic poles have started!
Adrian Cheng (@raikkonenf12008)
14th May 2014, 1:23
So what happened to the new exhaust Mercedes was testing?
DaveD (@daved)
14th May 2014, 4:38
They tweeted that they’re trying it tomorrow.
Ben (@scuderia29)
14th May 2014, 13:57
we all know that fastest times in testing only mean one thing, my moneys on chilton for the WDC
niedsche
15th May 2014, 0:37
victory is chilton’s! and anon