INDYCAR: Chilton fears track safety could deter other F1 drivers from IndyCar switch

Max Chilton believes that more drivers will follow him from F1 into IndyCar in coming years, although he warns that some might be dissuaded by lower track safety standards in the U.S.

Chilton spent two years in F1 with Marussia before dovetailing a Nissan LMP1 program with a part-time Indy Lights deal in 2015, and will move into IndyCar full-time this year at the wheel of Ganassi's No.8 entry.

The Briton is the first F1 driver to move across to IndyCar since Rubens Barrichello in 2012, and said that he believes that perceptions over track safety could be the only barrier for others.

"Yes, [more could come] if certain things are looked at," he said. "There's certain things I don't think they would like, and I don't like personally.

"The thing that stands out to me is the track safety. You go to some tracks and think. 'this would never happen in the rest of the world, or Europe'. They don't have the same safety standards, in my opinion, when it comes to certain tracks.

"As the cars go, the cars are just as safe as Formula One. [But] I definitely think with certain circuits, [F1 Race Director] Charlie Whiting would come over and say, 'Change that, change that'. I've spoken with a couple of drivers that have been doing it for many years, without mentioning names. They go, 'Yeah, we've seen that for years, but they're just not interested in changing it'.

"I think safety at certain circuits need looking at. Apart from that, [IndyCar is] very good. They're definitely more organized, in my opinion, than other sports when it comes to keeping drivers together, understanding what the drivers want. It's definitely more of a close field, a close feeling in the IndyCar paddock than Formula 1. In Formula 1, you sometimes hear something through someone else. IndyCar, everyone gets told and has time to discuss things.

"Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsports. They are very elite with everything they do. But at the end of the day, no one is perfect. There are things that IndyCar does better."

OPEN-MINDED ABOUT FUTURE

Chilton admitted that he has unfinished business in F1, but said that although he remains open to the prospect of one day returning to the world championship, he has no interest in racing with a backmarker team.

"You really don't know where life is going to take you and you should never say never," he said. "I said I would never do IndyCar. Look, here I am at Chip Ganassi Racing, full season IndyCar.

"I'm not going to say I'm never gong to go back to F1. If I suddenly do amazingly well in IndyCar and it gives me the opportunity to go back to F1, I would jump at it because F1, at the end of the day, was my goal. I still have a lot of unfinished business there. Since a child, I wanted to become a podium finisher or a race winner, for example, and that didn't happen because of certain circumstances of the car you're in.

"I would look at what teams offer me something. If it was backfield drives, then I wouldn't be interested. I'd rather be in IndyCar where the drivers are just as good and it's just as competitive, yet everyone has a fair chance, to a certain extent, of doing well."