Biography
Jules Bianchi Marussia MR02
A name that should last long in the future of Formula One is Marussia’s Jules Bianchi, tipped to become France’s future star. The 23 year-old is a member of Ferrari’s famed driving academy so can expect to sample different teams before he makes the grade at Maranello.
Bianchi will make is F1 debut in 2013 after grabbing the last seat on the grid, just a matter of weeks before the new season began. After being hotly tipped to take the Force India seat alongside Paul di Resta, in a team he spent last season as a reserve driver, he narrowly missed out to Adrian Sutil.
However, a late reprieve came in the shape of Marussia who, having seemed to have confirmed their driver line-up, terminated the contract of Luis Razia, who had only signed a few weeks before. After a winter of uncertainty, he will be forgiven for a slow start in comparison to team mate Max Chilton who has attended all of the inter test sessions, but you can expect to see the highly rated Jules impose himself soon.
Bianchi boasts an impressive junior career including back-to-back third placed finishes in GP2, and a Formula Three Euroseries title. With the substantial backing he as from Ferrari, Bianchi will be around in formula one for the foreseeable future should he produce the results 2013 may be a slow and unspectacular start to his F1 career, but it will provide a steep learning curve that will serve him well in the future.