Shanghai: Max Chilton laughingly suggested that he would have happily cut off his right arm to secure his place on the Formula One starting grid. That would have been counter-productive, of course, but fortunately for the glamour sport's youngest and newest British racer, his father Grahame came up with an altogether less painful solution that could be the way of the future for Formula One. He turned his son into a private company to raise the cash.
Chilton, three races into his rookie career with tail-enders Marussia, has effectively sold a cut of his future earnings to private investors willing to take a risk on a 21-year-old hopeful and gain tax benefits for doing so.
"With the current (financial) situation in Formula One, probably 75 percent plus of the drivers on this grid have to bring something to the team," Chilton senior said on Friday. In the UK, you have what's called an Enterprise Investment Scheme... and the new venture here is investing in a young and up-and-coming driver," added the multi-millionaire who made his fortune in reinsurance.
Grahame Chilton said a group of some 35 to 40 investors had joined the EIS scheme to date, paying from 20,000 pounds to much greater sums with no individual allowed to contribute more than 20 percent of the invested funds. Chilton senior has not invested anything, having paid enough already over the years to get his son to the threshold of Formula One....
03:25 PM, Apr 12, 2013
Marussia has confirmed it has held merger talks with rival Caterham in the latest sign of the financial struggles faced by the smaller teams on the grid. ...
10:45 AM, Mar 22, 2013
Max Chilton is one of five Formula One rookies among the 22 drivers on the grid this season. ...
03:51 PM, Mar 21, 2013
The Banbury-based outfit is the only team to use Cosworth engines currently as all other teams use Renault, Ferrari or Mercedes engines. ...
05:13 PM, Feb 28, 2013
What one hears is that a lot of teams are facing a challenging financial situation, some more and some less, says Sauber team principal. ...
10:04 PM, Feb 08, 2013
Reports from Brazil last week suggested Max Chilton's partner will be Brazilian Luiz Razia. ...
06:35 PM, Feb 05, 2013
The Russian-licensed team, which has competed without the technology since their debut in 2010, put themselves on a more level playing field this time with their new MR02 car. ...
04:16 PM, Feb 05, 2013
Caterham have confirmed that their 2013 car, CT03, will be unveiled at the start of next month's first pre-season test. ...
08:11 PM, Jan 21, 2013
The Russian-licensed team said that a replacement would be announced in due course. ...
04:13 PM, Jan 21, 2013
Greater Noida: India's Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan said Saturday he was happy to start from the penultimate spot ahead of at least one of the Marussias in his home Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit. Karthikeyan will be starting at the 23rd place behind HRT team mate Pedro de la Rosa and ahead of Marussia-Cosworth's Charles Pic in Sunday's race. "Overall I'm happy with the performance we showed...
08:51 PM, Oct 27, 2012
Greater Noida: Formula 1 team Marussia will give its recently-signed reserve driver Max Chilton a chance to drive at the opening practice of next weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Chilton will drive alongside German Timo Glock, taking over the car from Charles Pic, who will resume his seat from the second practise session in the afternoon. The 21-year-old Chilton, who hails from Britain, has previously raced at the Yas Marina...
04:33 PM, Oct 25, 2012
Greater Noida: German Formula 1 driver Timo Glock said that the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) here is a fantastic track. "India, in my opinion, is a fantastic track. As soon as we did our first practice runs at the BIC last year, I enjoyed it straight away. There are so many special sections to the track, especially turn three, which is a very extreme corner. You have to completely turn...
03:32 PM, Oct 25, 2012
With the London Olympics hogging the limelight all over the world, the Formula One fraternity has decided to take a month-long break with the next race - the Belgian Gran Prix - to take place on September 2. An agreement was reached between the 12 teams to send their staff for vacation. Once the Hungarian Grand Prix got over, McLaren initiated the shut down. Red Bull too closed its door...
12:57 PM, Aug 07, 2012
Madrid: Spanish test driver Maria De Villota, seriously injured in a crash at the start of this month, is "in good overall shape" and was released from hospital on Wednesday, her Madrid clinic said. The Marussia Formula One team's De Villota suffered life-threatening head and facial injuries in the accident at Duxford airfield in eastern England on July 3 and lost her right eye after undergoing emergency surgery. Madrid's La...
04:27 PM, Jul 26, 2012
Banbury: The accident that caused one of the Marussia Formula One drivers to lose an eye wasn't the fault of the car involved, the team's representatives said after an internal investigation into one of the most serious F1 crashes in years. Maria de Villota was driving an F1 car for only the fourth time - and first for Marussia - when she hit a support truck during a straight-line exercise...
08:53 AM, Jul 17, 2012
Moscow: Formula One driver Charles Pic says the crash in testing that left Marussia test driver Maria de Villota critically injured had a powerful effect on the team, but has not made him fear for his safety in the sport. De Villota remains in hospital after suffering severe facial injuries in the July 3 crash at Duxford airfield in Britain, including the loss of her right eye. In an interview...
03:44 PM, Jul 14, 2012
Silverstone: Spanish test driver Maria De Villota's condition has improved after further surgery for head and facial injuries, and she is now serious but stable, her Marussia Formula One team said on Friday. The 32-year-old, daughter of former F1 racer Emilio De Villota, lost an eye and suffered life-threatening injuries in a freak accident at a straight-line aerodynamic test in eastern England on Tuesday. De Villota underwent lengthy surgery on...
09:37 AM, Jul 07, 2012
Silverstone: Formula One must analyse the safety implications of the freak testing accident that left Spanish racer Maria De Villota critically injured this week, drivers said on Thursday. The daughter of former F1 driver Emilio De Villota lost her right eye after her car suddenly accelerated into the lowered tailgate of a parked team truck at Duxford airfield in eastern England on Tuesday. She remains in hospital, with her condition...
01:31 PM, Jul 06, 2012
Valencia: German driver Timo Glock will miss Sunday's European Grand Prix in Valencia for health reasons, his Marussia Formula One team said. Glock missed Saturday's qualifying due to a stomach bug, and although race stewards had the discretion to allow him to race, the team accepted that was out of question. "The Marussia F1 Team can confirm that Timo is unable to compete in today's race," they said in a...
04:33 PM, Jun 24, 2012
London: Marussia were given the all-clear to start the Formula One season after their new car passed the final mandatory crash test on Tuesday. The Russian-licensed team, who gave the MR01 its track debut in a filming day at Silverstone on Monday, said in a statement they had cleared the last hurdle. "The component in question actually passed an 'unobserved' crash test but has been performing inconsistently in the observed...
10:28 AM, Mar 07, 2012
