John Booth also keen for earlier driver confirmations than this year
Tuesday 30 July 2013 16:14, UK
Marussia chief John Booth has expressed his desire to retain Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton for 2014 with the team aiming to finalise their driver line-up far earlier than was the case ahead of this season.
Next season will be Marussia's first as a Ferrari engine customer after the Banbury outfit signed a long-term deal to use the Scuderia's engines and full powertrain from the start of F1's new turbo era. Given he is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, it has been suggested that the new agreement will assure Bianchi's future at the team but Booth insisted during the Hungarian GP weekend that the two issues were not interconnected. "First of all, with Jules, he is a Ferrari young driver but the two deals are totally separate," Booth said. "The powertrain deal has no bearing on Jules' future at all."
