The MR02 made its competitive debut at the 2013 Australian Grand Prix. In difficult conditions, Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton qualified in nineteenth and twentieth place, ahead of their closest rivals, the Caterhams drivers Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde. Bianchi went on to finish the race in fifteenth place, one lap behind eventual winner Kimi Räikkönen. Chilton finished in seventeenth place, two laps behind Räikkönen. At the next race in Malaysia, Bianchi took advantage of a string of retirements to finish thirteenth overall, once again ahead of the Caterham drivers. Chilton went on to finish sixteenth, as the final classified driver.