Former Formula 1 racer Max Chilton expects more drivers will switch from F1 to IndyCar in the future.
Following several races in Indy Lights with Carlin last season, Chilton will make his IndyCar series debut next month with Chip Ganassi Racing, as part of a line-up including reigning champion Scott Dixon.
Although many still regard F1 as the pinnacle of motorsport, the former Marussia racer believes other drivers will join him and switch to IndyCar in the future.
Recently drivers such as Rubens Barrichello and Takuma Sato have switched to IndyCar, with Sato becoming a popular character within the paddock and winning at Long Beach in 2013.
"Yes, if certain things are looked at," said Chilton when asked whether he sees more F1 drivers making the switch to IndyCar. "There's certain things I don't think they [F1 drivers] would like and I don't like personally. But I know it's a good opportunity for me.
"Formula 1, it's the pinnacle of motorsports. They are very elite with everything they do. At the end of the day, no one is perfect. There are things that IndyCar does better.
"They see they've got a good championship. Hence why I've come over. I'm sure other people will."
While Chilton believes other drivers will follow him to IndyCar, he has not ruled out a return to F1 in the future.
But he insists he would prefer to remain in IndyCar with a top team like Chip Ganassi than return to F1 with a midfield runner.
“I'm not going to say I'm never going to go back to F1,” he said. “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.
“So, yeah, it really does depend on the situation. But I would never say never.”
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