Jules Bianchi

[Scott Webber]

Jules Bianchi will be Force India’s third driver for the forthcoming season.
The team confirmed Bianchi will drive in at least nine Friday practice session during the year and will drive the team’s new car in pre-season testing.

Bianchi, who is part of the Ferrari driver development programme, said: “Being regularly in a current car is the best way to learn quickly and I hope it will put me in a strong position to one day move into a race seat.

“The next few months will be really exciting as I get to know the team, see how they work, and prepare for my time in the car. I would like to thank everyone for believing in me and especially Sahara Force India for giving me this great opportunity.”

Bianchi finished third in GP2 in 2010 and 2011.

source

 

[Hampus Andersson]

This will be interesting to see how he stacks up against either Hulkenberg or Di Resta.
It´s only FP1-FP2´s but over a season should give an idea of his potential i think.

It´s probably a make or break it for him if he wants to secure the other Ferrari seat.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

I'd be more interested in how he stacks up against Perez during Free Practice.
I feel Perez is more a deserving candidate for the 2013 seat.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

I'd be more interested in how he stacks up against Perez during Free Practice.
I feel Perez is more a deserving candidate for the 2013 seat.

Well it´s impossible to compare him to Perez because they are in two different cars.

Hulkenberg and Di Resta will drive an identical car to Bianchi.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

Not impossible.
You'd expect the Force India to be on average about 3 or 4 tenths quicker than a Sauber.
So if Bianchi is falling below the times set by Perez consistently, you know that he's not quite there yet.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Not impossible.
You'd expect the Force India to be on average about 3 or 4 tenths quicker than a Sauber.
So if Bianchi is falling below the times set by Perez consistently, you know that he's not quite there yet.

What? Are you really predicting the performance deficit of two cars that haven´t seen daylight yet?
That is the most ridiculous thing i´ve read in my life Chris...

Not nobody knows the performance of these two cars, nobody in the whole world knows the performance deficit of these two cars as well.
You have to do better then that.... You can´t go by history and think the future will look the same.
Even if you knew the approximate difference of the cars it would still be a dynamic number because one car might fit one track better then the other.

When you compare Bianchi vs Hulkenberg and Di Resta you have the exact same car to compare them in.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

Chill dude.
I am basing this purely on assumptions and history.
I know its not accurate or neccesarily what will happen in 2012.

Regardless of how these 2 teams perform, if Bianchi cannot outperform Perez, one would have to assume that Perez would be a more likely candidate for the Ferrari seat.

Its all assumptions, I understand that. Its just my opinions.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Yea but it makes no sense considering the fact that the Sauber can be miles better then the Force India for next year so the whole logic of it only works today.

It´s the same with Vettel vs Alonso vs Hamilton vs Button, you can only compare Alonso vs Hamilton & Hamilton vs Button because they have shared the same car.
You can´t for example compare Vettel vs Alonso because he had a much better car all year long so you would never know if there was a driver skill-gap between the two.

 

[Bradley Vanian]

He will be racing for Marussia this season after Luiz Razia struggled to get enough sponsorship.

Feels like he's been in lower formulas for decades. He's about 50 or something.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105789

 

[Markus Neumann]

Looks like Marussia might have an engine for 2014 after all.

 

[Tom]

Looks like Marussia might have an engine for 2014 after all.

?

 

[Shane Butler]

Really surprised by the news today. I really dont know that much about the new guys in F1 - Guttierez, Bianchi, Van Der Garde - so it should be interesting to see how they get on. I do hope that Bianchi does well.

 

[Markus Neumann]

?

What do you mean?

 

[Tom]

What do you mean?

Prolly the only engine Marussia will get.

 

[Markus Neumann]

In case it's not clear what I meant: Cosworth currently supplies Marussia. Cosworth will be pulling out of F1. It has been known that Ferrari might want to supply another team, especially if Toro Rosso switches to Renault. Part of the reason why Bianchi was attractive to FI was because Ferrari promised them a better engine deal for '14 if they took him. Chances are, Marussia is going to get that deal now.

 

[Tom]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm

:/

 

[Markus Neumann]

Oh, I never understood what those words meant.

 

[sayonarap]

Appart from the "Marussia will get Ferrari engine next year" issue, I must confess to be quite impressed by Marussia generally and Bianchi specifically. This guy has future in F1.
He seems to have the mentality for it. Unlike Gutierrez.

 

[Kartik Sri Harsha]

If Bianchi in SFI then he will be in the Points already.

 

[Jonathan Blackmore]

Binachi has performed well... but its still too early to suggest that he is a potential star
he's definitely good, but we don't know yet if he is looking better than he is due to max chilton
Max is starting to develop and close that gap to bianchi, if they are both retained for next season and max continues his upward trend on closing the gap til the end of this season, i think we'll be able to tell if bianchi is definitely future champion material next season!

plus a ferrari engine will certainly give the team a better fighting chance at catching up the middle pack, so hopefully we'll see more race craft from bianchi