Chilton was born in Redhill and grew up in Reigate. His father, Grahame Chilton, is a businessman who co-owned the insurance company Benfield Group[1] until 2008, when it was taken over by Aon plc for £738m. Chilton became vice-chairman of Aon after the deal and also collected around £77m for his stake.[2] Max Chilton was educated at Ardingly College from 2000 to 2008. His brother, Tom Chilton, is also a racing driver.
Career
Karting
Chilton started his racing career at the age of 10 in karts where he spent 2 years learning the ropes in cadet karting before stepping up to junior TKM. He started to make a name for himself with J.I.C.A, where he made regular appearances on the podium, before turning his attention to car racing at the age of 14. Throughout this period Chilton was racing in the Super 1 National Kart Championships.
T Cars
He dovetailed his 2005 karting season with a season in the T Cars championship, for drivers between fourteen and seventeen years of age. He finished eighth in his first season, before going on to finish third in the Autumn Trophy. He continued in T Cars in 2006, where he finished as runner-up to Luciano Bacheta by three points. He won seven races to Bacheta's six.
For 2008 Chilton moved to David Hayle's Hitech Racing, and improved to tenth place in the championship. He recorded pole positions at Monza and Rockingham, and scored two podiums – second in the opening race at Oulton Park and third at Rockingham. He moved to Carlin Motorsport for the 2009 season, taking three pole positions in the first four races. He won twice during the season, the first at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, and the second in his final Formula Three race at Brands Hatch.
In 2011 Chilton joined his father's Carlin team for the outfit's first foray into GP2, having previously driven for them in Formula Three. Partnered variously by reigning Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion Mikhail Aleshin and Álvaro Parente, he finished 22nd in the Asia series and 20th in the main series. He remained with the team, now with backing from the MarussiaFormula One team, for the 2012 season alongside Rio Haryanto. He secured his first series podium finish in the feature race of the first round of the championship in Malaysia, and later his first pole position and race victory in the Hungarian feature race.[5] This improvement in form, together with consistent points-scoring finishes throughout the season, resulted in Chilton rising to fourth place in the drivers' championship.
In November 2011 Chilton drove for the Force India team in the Young Driver test at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit. This was his second time driving Formula One machinery following a straight-line aerodynamic test for the team earlier in the year.[6]
In December 2012, Nikolai Fomenko, the engineering director of Marussia F1, announced that Chilton would race for the team full-time in 2013.[8] The team confirmed the next day that Chilton would race.[9] Chilton qualified 20th on his debut at the Australian GP. He achieved his best finish of the season at the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix, when he finished in 14th place following several retirements. He achieved his best qualifying result of 16th position at the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix in a mixed-weather session where he was one of three drivers to go out on slick tyres at the end when the track's condition was improving.
Chilton is the only driver to have finished every race of his rookie season.[10]
On 11 January it was announced that Marussia F1 would be retaining Chilton for the 2014 season.[11] Chilton achieved his best finish to date at the Australian Grand Prix, finishing 13th. He finished 13th again at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Chilton had finished every Formula One race he had contested until the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix, which meant that he had finished 25 consecutive races, 19 of them in his rookie season. This was a record for most classified finishes in a rookie season. Lewis Hamilton holds the record for most consecutive classified finishes at 48. Chilton's Canadian Grand Prix retirement came when he collided with his teammate Jules Bianchi on the first lap, sending the Frenchman into the wall at Turn 4. Chilton received a three-place grid penalty at the following race.[12] His season ended after Marussia went into administration and then closed down, resulting in Chilton missing the last three races of the season and having no seat for 2015.
IndyCar
Indy Lights
With no F1 seat for 2015, Chilton returned to Carlin for testing in order to assist them with their Indy Lights efforts, planning to move on to a full IndyCar Series drive in 2016. Chilton's maiden Indy Lights pole position and race win, taking place on the same weekend as Jules Bianchi's death, was dedicated to his former Formula One teammate and karting rival.[13][14]
In the 2017 Indianapolis 500, Chilton dominated the latter part of the race and led 47 of the last 72 laps, but ultimately finished fourth. Chilton led the most laps total with 50.[16]
On 6 June 2019, it was announced that Chilton would no longer run races on oval tracks, with the exception of the Indy 500. Conor Daly would run the remainder of the Oval races for the 2019 season for Carlin Motorsport.
Chilton during the 2020 IndyCar Harvest GP.
In February 2022, Chilton announced his retirement from IndyCar racing, in order to concentrate on other ventures, including the Le Mans Endurance Race.[18]
^"Chilton for GP2 Asia". Autosport. Vol. 197, no. 13. 24 September 2009. p. 27. British F3 race winner Max Chilton will graduate to GP2 Asia this winter. Chilton, 18, will test for Barwa Addax in early October before heading to Abu Dhabi for the season opener at the end of the month.
^"Standing By". MarussiaF1Team.com. Marussia F1. 20 September 2012. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012. We are very happy to announce that rising star, Max Chilton, has been elevated from our Young Driver Programme to the position of Formula 1 Reserve Driver with effect from the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix next month and for the rest of the current F1 season.
^Николай Фоменко: "Марусе" нужно объединиться с Петровым [Nikolay Fomenko: "Marussia" should unite with Petrov]. Izvestia (in Russian). News Media. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2012. – Кто будет партнером Глока после перехода Шарля Пика в "Катерхэм"? – Резервный пилот – Макс Чилтон.
