Alexander Rossi replaces Max Chilton at Marussia for Belgian GP

vee10 · Aug 21, 2014

American Alexander Rossi will make his Formula 1 racing debut with the Marussia team at the Belgian Grand Prix, replacing Max Chilton.

The British team said Rossi, who joined Marussia last month as a reserve driver, would substitute for Chilton "while contractual issues are resolved".

"Although it was not our intention to offer Alexander the possibility to race this season, in light of the circumstances we are pleased to be providing him with the opportunity to make his grand prix debut at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps," said team boss John Booth.

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Jordi Casademunt · Aug 21, 2014

This weekend keeps getting weirder.

Jimlaad43 · Aug 21, 2014

That was unexpected

Tony Holder · Aug 21, 2014

What next?

vee10 · Aug 21, 2014

Max's pocket money from mummy has ran out.

the_sigman · Aug 21, 2014

Tony Holder said:
What next?

Chilton will finally race in Marussia, replacing Bianchi, who is replacing Raikkonen, who is away due to illness

Terry Rock · Aug 21, 2014

I did not see that one coming.
Good for him though.
This is his time to 'shine' as best he can.
He has an opportunity with that car to impress Gene Haas into a regular drive in 2016.
Hope he does well..

Bram Hengeveld · Aug 21, 2014

And there goes Marussia's top finisher.

Chris Jenkins · Aug 21, 2014

You mean slowest finisher?

Bram Hengeveld · Aug 21, 2014

Chris Jenkins said:
You mean slowest finisher?

In history!

vee10 · Aug 21, 2014

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115469

Max Chilton says he relinquished his Marussia Formula 1 race seat to Alexander Rossi for the Belgian Grand Prix voluntarily due to financial issues on the team's side.
Marussia announced on Thursday afternoon at Spa that its recently-signed reserve driver Rossi would replace Chilton alongside Jules Bianchi this weekend.
The team said the move was due to "contractual issues".
Chilton subsequently released a statement through his PR company saying that Marussia was short of funds and he had moved aside so that Rossi could pay for the seat.
"Max Chilton has volunteered to step out of his race seat for this weekend's race in Spa, Belgium, to allow the team to attract much needed funds by selling his seat," read the statement.
"Max will attend the race and be on hand to support the team in any way possible."
The statement indicated that the driver swap was only a temporary measure for Spa.
"Marussia are currently in talks with several new investors and it is expected the situation will be resolved before the next race in the F1 calendar in Monza," it added.
Chilton was in his second full season with Marussia after stepping up from GP2 to F1 with the team last year.
Marussia has declined to specify exactly what the contractual issues are, but they are likely to relate to the non-payment of promised funding from Chilton's backers that secure him the drive.

I'm going to have a root around the back of the sofa, see if I can get the Monza drive.

Chris Jenkins · Aug 21, 2014

So kind of like when someone is given the opportunity to resign before they get sacked.

"Hey Max, feel free to Volunteer to not race, because we're not going to let you race."

Bruno Sousa Ferreira · Aug 22, 2014

BBC just said that Max will be back in the car for fp2, this is starting to be a bit silly, imagine if they actually put drivers whom deserves to be there on their skill. (One can hope)

vee10 · Aug 22, 2014

There has always been paying drivers, but you think with the amount of money F1 generates they would be a thing of the past. It cant do anyone any good keep chopping and changing drivers. How can you expect to be competitive when you have a different driver for each session.

Chris · Aug 22, 2014

Wow. What a mess.
Nice work Marussia (/s).

I just feel bad for Rossi.
But unfortunately with these backmarker teams, money wins everytime.

vee10 · Aug 22, 2014

Max must have won the on the bingo last night. What a joke.

David O'Reilly · Aug 22, 2014

In more young racer new Max Chilterns pocket money has arrived and he has gone straight down to the arcade and fed it into the slot. Contractual problem solved.

It may surprise some that the pay driver scenario has been around for as long as the sport. World Champions that have paid for a seat include Nicki Lauda who paid cash he had borrowed from the bank for his first F1 drive and Alan Jones who was a pay as you go at the beginning and the end of his career.