Essentially, Chilton’s parental aid is manifested in the form of 13 blue-chip
sponsors, largely obtained through his father’s business connections and all
of whom hold shares in him. “We call it selling my leg,” he says, smiling.
“It’s a complete network, and it has taken a long time to acquire it.”
He denied, though, that there was ever any discussion of Chilton Snr providing
the money to enable his breakthrough this season from the GP2 feeder series
to F1. “We never even talked about it. He has always been passionate about
racing, and I have been passionate about winning. Clearly, I couldn’t have
got to a certain level without him, but no one in junior categories could
without a major sponsor. F1 was the only stage where I didn’t want him to
help me.”
Few could dispute Chilton’s skill or tenacity in finishing all five grands
prix so far this campaign, albeit behind fellow Marussia rookie Jules
Bianchi each time, but still he struggles to escape the mutterings on
whether he deserves his place. Before the season, his intended team-mate,
Luca Razia, lost the chance of an F1 seat because he could not raise the £5
million required – even though the Brazilian had finished second to
Chilton’s fourth in the GP2 standings. So was it fair? Or would F1 forever
be intrinsically skewed towards those with a major financial advantage?
“Obviously I feel for Luca, because it was his dream,” Chilton replies,
carefully. “He had it and then it got taken away. In any sport you can look
at the rankings, think, ‘Right, there’s the one-two’, but that’s not always
the way it works. Last year I outscored a lot of people in the main race. If
people look at the stats the right way, they see I was one of the strongest.
Marussia examined it in-depth and I’m thankful they did.”
Chilton’s candour and sincerity seem genuine. And it is hardly as though,
despite the material privileges, he has not had significant difficulties to
surmount. At Ardingly he toiled to overcome his dyslexia, eventually
discovering his niche in subjects that required the most lateral thinking.
“I wasn’t necessarily academic but I always thrived in classes where you had
to think outside the box, like design technology. It’s good to be able to
say that I’ve gone somewhere being dyslexic.”
He and elder brother Tom learnt the karting craft and even raced at Le Mans as
a fraternal duo, before his sibling made the switch to touring cars.
The great imponderable is whether Chilton can convert his auspicious
beginnings at Marussia to a more lasting career. “Sometimes, people are
critical and use my father’s support as something against me,” Chilton says.
“But ultimately an F1 team would never accept you unless you could do the
job. I am here to become a race-winner and, I hope, a world champion. I do
this to prove things to myself. I know that I am good enough.”