Jules Bianchi, One to Watch?

I certainly think so. When I found out the news of Jules Bianchi’s signing to Marussia for 2013 I must admit, I couldn’t think of a better option for them to choose.

(c) Marussia F1 Team

The Frenchman has so far shown he was the right choice, even if we are just one race in to the 2013 season. Why so quick to make a judgement? Well it would probably be fairer to comment on his talent and predictions for the season in a few races time but he has made quite an impact in such a short space of time.

Last weekends Australian Grand Prix really was a baptism of fire for the rookie. Dry running on Friday was the simplest part of the weekend. Heavy rain in FP3 and the first qualifying session was the real challenge, and whilst closest rivals Caterham suffered the embarrassment of both drivers collecting the barriers it was Marussia’s rookie pairing who really showed the control and composure expected of them. Both Bianchi and British team-mate Max Chilton managed to keep it on the island and out qualify their main rivals by some margin.  

(c) Marussia F1 Team

Those “margins” were very important; especially to prove my theory that Bianchi is one to watch. In both FP1 and FP2 the Frenchman was just tenths shy of the Toro Rosso pairing. Then in the wet qualifying he was half a second down on Maldonado in 17^th and just eight tenths off making it in to Q2. And in a session where torrential rain caused chaos and there were numerous yellow flags to contend with he did a pretty good job.

Moving on to the race, the main focus was on the front but post-race there was plenty of talk surrounding Bianchi’s performance, and rightfully so. The 23-year-old managed to finish just a lap down on the eventual winner Raikkonen, almost a lap ahead of team mate Max Chilton (who admittedly did have to make an unscheduled stop, which meant a re-think on strategy). He finished on the same lap as the Sauber of Gutierrez and Williams of Bottas and was really not far off from the midfield rookies.

However what really captured my attention about that sterling performance was his fastest lap time. It was the 11^th fastest lap of the race, 1.2 seconds slower than Raikkonen’s end of race blinder and just 0.05 shy of triple world champion Sebastian Vettel. Marussia being so close to a Red Bull, who would have thought? That was an impressive feat, very impressive indeed.

(c) Marussia F1 Team

Of course you also have to compare him to his highly regarded team mate Max Chilton. The Brit tested for the team last year and had pretty much free reign of the MR02 during winter running, so he was best prepared for the season ahead. Chilton’s qualifying lap was not perfect and he was caught out at times by yellow flags but it was still seven tenths off Bianchi’s best time. Despite having to pit for a new front wing, which meant he dropped back from Bianchi in track position, the Brit was consistently slower in comparison to his rookie team-mate and his fastest lap of the race was 1.7 seconds slower than the speedy Frenchman. Of course Chilton did a good job too and props to him for bringing the car home and having a good dice with van der Garde, but there was quite a gap that Chilton needs to recover and one that really emphasises the raw pace and potential of Bianchi.

What’s emphasises his impressive start to the season even more is the lack of running in the car before FP1 at the Albert Park circuit. It was a rushed deal which saw him drive the car on just two occasions and obviously this would have impacted his preparations and comfortability in the MR02. This makes his debut race even more impressive because after such little running he still managed to out race and out qualifying team-mate Chilton as said before, who had a pretty straightforward winter.

(c) Marussia F1 Team

Marussia also look to have jumped Caterham in the constructor stakes and by some margin, with a radically different car, plenty of upgrades being added for Australia and future upgrades looking likely. In comparison to the Leafield based team, Marussia have made big strides forward and have better momentum going in to the season when looking at the development race. Caterham have admitted that their first major upgrade will not arrive until the fifth round in Spain. The better momentum and heavier developed car meant Bianchi managed to finish some way ahead of both Pic and van der Garde at the first round of the season in Australia.

However as unprepared as he was for the season ahead, Bianchi has a feeder series CV which means it would be wrong to discount him as a future world champion. The Frenchman has won races in numerous series on the run up to his Formula 1 debut. Former French Formula Renault champion, the youngster has a relatively unrivalled list of successes in the junior ranks. The Formula 3 Euroseries champion in 2009, he is also a Masters of Formula 3 winner and finished third in his first season in the Formula 3 fraternity.

(c) GP2 Series

He also found success in GP2, finishing third in the 2010 and 2011 seasons respectively. However with no real prospect of an F1 move on the cards he took the unusual route of joining the Formula Renault 3.5 grid for last season. He impressed from the off and finished the year as the series runner-up, just like he had done in the GP2 Asia series of 2011. Despite quite a few near misses in the latter stages of his climb up the ladder he still managed consistent race wins in a number of different disciplines, hugely impressive.

So of course after that glittering career on the run up to Formula 1 I was far from surprised by his stunning season opener in Australia. And why shouldn’t I be? There is plenty of evidence for it.

One clear piece of evidence is the fact that Ferrari signed him to their Driver Academy. Now if there is one team that any driver wants to impress it’s the legendary Italian squad. So if Ferrari are impressed by him and see his potential, then he must be good!

(c) Marussia F1 Team

Secondly his experience driving Formula 1 cars is pretty strong. Bianchi held the position of Ferrari’s test driver in 2011 and gained valuable experience in F1 machinery. However even before then he had sat down in machinery from the sport and by 2012 he had completed numerous young driver tests, test sessions and Free Practice outings. The latter was thanks to a move to Force India for 2012 as their test and reserve driver. The final tag meant he completed nine first practice sessions for the squad, in a similar way to what Nico Hulkenberg did for the team in 2011. This was valuable for learning some of the Formula 1 circuits, adding to his experience and impressing in front of some very influential people.

So after that long explanation it is far from surprising that Force India considered him for a race seat this year. After just missing out he now has a steep learning curve with Marussia but is one of the best prepared rookies of recent times to deal with it.

Jules Bianchi is definitely one to keep an eye on. I may be jumping the gun here, but I predict big things for him. Definitely a future race winner or world champion but of course that all relies on whether he gets a drive in a top team.

Let’s see how he goes this year in what will be a very tough campaign, and see what lies ahead for him.