Bianchi 'understands' Ferrari signing Vettel

Jules Bianchi has acknowledged there will be no room for him at Ferrari in 2015.

Earlier - before Sebastian Vettel stunned the paddock with his shock Red Bull exit - Frenchman Bianchi nominated himself as the "logical" candidate to replace Fernando Alonso at Ferrari.

Now, it is clear the Maranello team has signed up F1's reigning world champion Vettel.

Mercedes' Niki Lauda thinks it is a smart move.

"There is a new management, a new motivation in the team, and of course Sebastian as a four-time world champion and German, it is a bit like Schumacher," he told German television RTL.

"What I mean is that in this 'spaghetti-mess' of Ferrari today it could really do with some German thoroughness. That is why I think this is very good for Ferrari," Lauda added.

It is however a blow for Frenchman Bianchi, the leading Ferrari 'academy' driver who now faces yet another season at the back of the grid with Marussia.

"When you see teams like Red Bull and McLaren taking on young drivers, you hope for that (at Ferrari) too," he is quoted by Italian media.

"But if they have taken Vettel it means that they needed a driver like him to replace Alonso and I can understand that," added Bianchi.

Vettel's move proves Bernie Ecclestone right, after the F1 chief executive said a couple of weeks ago that the German is "the right man for Ferrari".

Also proved right is the outspoken 1997 world champion, Jacques Villeneuve.

"Super!" the French Canadian is quoted by Sport Bild. "Sebastian listened to me!

"I said in the summer that he should leave Red Bull because he no longer had their full support.

"At Ferrari he opens a new chapter and has a new challenge. It could be a big one."

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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