Sunday: Chilton finishes ahead of Bianchi for Marussia
Strong grouping by the two Marussia drivers, Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi. For once, the Frenchman, struggling with mechanical problems, let his English teammate pass him at the finish. Nevertheless, the entire team is pleased to have seen both cars finish the race, not far behind the Caterhams.
Max Chilton – 17th: What started as a rather difficult race fortunately improved and in the end, it wasn’t a bad race for us. For once we finished with both our cars, which is good for the team, and we maintain our 10th place in the championship. The degradation was quite high and it was a tough challenge to manage the tires and always try to seize an opportunity against the Caterhams, which finally happened when Pic stopped at the end of the race, allowing us to gain an extra position. Overall, I’m satisfied with my first night race.
Jules Bianchi – 18th: I was hoping for better today, but the first half of the race was not good at all for me. As I made my first pit stop, I lost gears and feared the problem was mechanical, but we stopped again to change the steering wheel and fortunately solved the issue. The second stint was difficult because I was quite far back and it felt like a very long and lonely race. When the safety car came out it helped me a lot and we managed to make up lost ground. I was then able to find a good steady pace. I was faster but while trying to pass my teammate, my tires went off completely and we had to stop again much earlier than expected. After seeing the tire degradation, I had no choice but to hold back, but at least I got a place when Pic stopped again at the end. Some tough moments in the race, but what matters is the team result.
