Hope he does well in GP2. He's certainly been impressive this year.

And he does it again.

Pretty commanding as well

I'm just not convinced that drivers need all this 'early development' before reaching F1 anymore. I keep hearing that he shouldn't be put in to F1 too early cuz he'll be too unprepared, but seeing how easy its been for some drivers with very little F1 experience to come in and do just fine tells me that F1 really isn't all that difficult that a driver needs so much preparation.

I'm not saying that we should take Formula Ford drivers and give them an F1 race seat, but I think that all a driver needs to do is show potential pre-F1 to earn a seat. Winning titles is great, but the team you drive for makes a huge difference in almost any level of racing, and just having potential should be good enough if you ask me. Some drivers make it. Some dont. There's no real way to distinguish which ones will or wont do well. It seems to be very case-specific and can ultimately be down to just how much an F1 car suits a driver's particular tastes.

I do think that GP2 will be good for Bianchi, and ART is always a good team to get recognition in, but I dont think he needs to win the title or do 2 seasons or whatever before joining F1. I think a team should put him in once he's proven he's got 'something' to give them. Potential is all a driver needs(and at least a bit of experience at higher levels). Not any specific number of titles or specific number of seasons in 'x' series or whatever.

Also, I dont know if anyone's noticed, but I've always been pretty impressed with Alex Rossi's testing pace in his first chance in a GP2 car. Future USF1 driver perhaps...

Bianchi is a monster talent. That much is evident.

ART know what they're doing when it comes to picking drivers. Hamilton is a world champion and already one of the elite talents in F1 at such a young age, as is Vettel on the latter point. Hulkenberg looks certainly to be at their level. Bianchi could well be, as well.

As an American, I'm very keen to see how Alexander Rossi, the 18 year old, progresses. He had a fantastic rookie year in International Formula Masters despite not exactly being in the fastest car. He also tested very well in his first GP2 test, being quickest in a wet session with DAMS before a mechanical failure took him out and comparing very well with more experienced GP2 teammates. Rossi was also fifth in the first session of the test at Abu Dhabi. He's going so well at such a young age, and it seems like we may finally have an American driver with a prayer for success in F1, at last!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80233

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80237

Great decision by Ferrari, and I really hope it will be able to guide Bianchi into its team step by step from now on. I'm thinking about one or maybe two years (if needed) in GP2, followed by a debut season in Qadbak/Sauber preparing him for taking over a possible vacated seat by Massa, should the Brazilian be soundly beaten by Alonso in the coming seasons.

I agree. The one downside is you're gonna have a bunch of morons stating 'But he never drove a Minardi, Ferrari golden-boy'

But I think its better cause that way, you basically put a pressure on him to constantly win, beat the competition and have that winning spirit at all time. On the other hand, if you give him F1 car, he'll get more F1 experience... but I still think that first option is better.

jules with ferrari?2days! and the driver of the italian f3 only one day divided for 3....it's a SHAME...
jules is in ferrari only for his manager...todt jr...and here in italy nobody want help our young drivers...Bortolotti it's an example...he was fast last year in ferrari, few laps but he have impressed all the guys in maranello (this have told me andrea bertolini)..look at him now...he is a real talent and he can have only a possibility for another test in f1 thanks to the support of red bull....
Montezzemolo speak every day about italianity..italy but he don't do anything.
we have lost giancarlo minardi unfortunatley...and for our drivers it's very difficult now...I hope for a great future for bortolotti, but after trulli fisichella liuzzi I can see only dark for italian drivers...
sorry for my english.

I''ve got nothing against bianchi for sure...only ungry with the situation of the motorsport here in italy...we are lost races, and not plans for the future about young drivers

I think you're being a bit unfair. It's already quite a big help IMO for italian drivers that Ferrari is giving them this opportunity. Italian F3 has been very uncompetitive the last few years, the odds of a big talent coming out of there just aren't high and Ferrari will be wasting a rare test day to give a shot to 3 guys unlikely to become stars. Whereas Jules was the most impressive guy in all F3 series this year and looks like a major talent - hence the 2 days of proper testing. You do have a point with Bortolotti, my guess is that Red Bull were just quicker to sign him up - and they wouldn't have had so much interest hadn't Ferrari given him the opportunity to impress in a F1 car, so Ferrari did help him in fact.

What Ferrari should be doing and aren't, and would help italian guys more, is to back kids all the way from karting or from their first year in cars, like Mac did with Hamilton. They seem to prefer betting on quality rather than quantity, ie only hire a particularly impressive guy each 5 years like Massa or Bianchi, and maybe that has its advantages too - just look at all the time and resources wasted by Red Bull in so many drivers that didn't cut it. Or maybe Ferrari will start doing just that, given the rumours they're about to start a "young drivers programme".

Great call from Ferrari. Did Stefano get something right for once?

I wouldn't put Rosberg in the same category as Hamilton and Hulk.

Anyone getting a suspicion that Ferrari may put Bianchi in the seat in 2011?

After all, McLaren were undaunted by pairing Lewis with a two-time defending WDC after he won the GP2 Championship in his first go. We know that Massa's contract is up next year. Bianchi would be a cheaper alternative to Kubica, and if he is Ferrari's man for the future (which it looks like they're making him), then there's certainly a lot he could learn from Alonso.

Just a thought...

That would be complicated by Nicolas Todt making the deals for both Felipe and Jules, so if Felipe's able to come close to Alonso next year, he's likely to stay on. But I don't know, it certainly looks like Bianchi will have some sort of an agreement with Ferrari for the future (we didn't know for certain about Massa having a Ferrari contract eight years ago), and regardless of his lacklustre Macau performance (last time he'll go there anyway) he's quite clearly the man when it comes to F3 this season.

Not quite so at Macau, he's disappointing for the 2nd year running.
depailler on tyrrell p34 is right, there are many talented Italian drivers, but the most talented never receive the chance. Bianchi on the other hand himself admitted he was always in the best teams and it's no coincidence he won everything. Btw, Bianchi is kind of Italian ;)

Macau is such a one-off circuit, and you can't really make conclusions about drivers there. That track is all about driving within the margins. Even Monaco is wider. That said, Jules has not that much of experience when it comes to street events, even though he won at Norisring this year. But that one is more like an airfield track than a street one.

Alesi comments

Don't judge Bianchi on first test

I think he's done a pretty good job, especially considering he's seemingly been conducting high-fuel simulations for next year. It's just great news that Ferrari has signed him, from what I've seen of him he looks no less impressive than Lewis at the same age. I think he'll be a Ferrari race driver by 2013, but it may take longer than that. He's just 20, tohugh, so he'll have time on his side!

Considering the unwarranted flak a certain individual took, whilst he also delivered. The Ferrari Golden-Boy tag wont be without precedent. Will it be deserved? No! But expect the tag to stick. Once in a competitive car, if his career doesn't mirror Hamilton's or better, watch the boo boys lay into him. Personally I think he's shows more potential at the same age and stage of career than Vettel did.

So will Bianchi be with Ferrari at every GP next year, or will Fisichella still be fulfilling that role?

Fisichella is Ferrari's official 3rd / reserve driver and he will also race a Ferrari for AF Corse in the Le Mans series.
Ferrari is preparing Bianchi for the future and he will compete in GP2 this year but he is not the 3rd driver.

Oh, cheers man.

For some reason I thought Bianchi would be in the garage for Ferrari learning the ropes.

I've just uploaded an interview I did with him at the end of 2009. http://www.skiddmark.com/interview-with-fe...-jules-bianchi/

Excellent article. I've been following his career for a couple of years but the GP2 Asia races were the first I'd been able to watch from start to finish and I was as impressed as I'd hoped I'd be.

Buemi didnt drive for ART in F3

Jules will have had 2 seasons of F3 and at least 1 season of GP2, he will be a lot more experienced than Kimi before entering F1

He was quite poor in the Macau GP though

I disagree the Hulk was quite easily beaten by Grosjean who was in his second season of F3, thats why the Hulk had to do a second season of F3

You're right, I was mistaken when writing that, I thought he had been Grosjean and Kobayashi's team-mate, but he was with another team. Buemi did drive for ART but in GP2 - in a half-season where things didn't go well, as a team-mate to di Grassi.

The ART F3 team was Grosjean, Kobayashi and the Hulk, Buemi did very well to finish 2nd in the series in what i believe was probably an inferior car.

He didnt do very well in the ART GP2 car, probably lack of testing didnt help.

The following season in GP2 he looked far more impressive driving for Arden, i believe, but again probably didnt have the best car

Hamilton, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, and Bianchi all won F3 with ART in their second season in commanding fashion. Hamilton and Hulkenberg both won the GP2 championship in their rookie seasons with ART; Grosjean failed to do so in his rookie season with ART.
The onus is on Bianchi to follow in the footsteps of Hamilton and Hulkenberg, or to otherwise falter like Grosjean.

I think he has a good chance of winning it first time out, he was exceptional in the 2nd Asia race at Abu Dhabi when he carved his way through from the back. He'll have to fight off iSport though (Barwa/RE look weaker to me this season) as they seem to have sorted themselves out again for this year, should be a great season.

Not sure iSport will fight for the win, one thing is to be quick with the Asia car another to be quick with the current one - like DAMS proved. Valsecchi has never been very impressive in the European car, Turvey will have to adapt himself to yet another new car (something he's certainly not bad at, though). They might keep on the good form they ended the last season, with VdG, or might have to try new setup paths.

Likewise both Barwa Addax drivers and Vietoris on Racing Engineering, might and might not be candidates. I don't quite know what to expect from them, as they're quite inconsistent. Considering this, I'd say Bianchi is clearly the biggest favourite as he's the one guy everyone expects to be at the front.

Good points with Asia form doesn't always equal main season form. VdG and Perez have lacked consistency for me though, so I think even with their car advantage they won't be at the front at every race. Vietoris was always excellent at staying on the track and hoovering up solid results, but I wonder if he has the stand out pace to make a title challenge.

Looking at the grid here then I agree, I can't see past Bianchi as favourite for this year, as long as he calms down his aggression at times (particularly on Sunday's race if he's coming through the pack).

I don't think that Bianchi is too aggressive.

Good consistency is hard to come by when you're not in a top team, though. In F1, you can generally rank the team order from fastest to slowest, but in a series like GP2, it becomes very difficult. The fact that they use the same car for a few years and you *still* cant tell a clear order says it all.

They're in spec cars, so there's never any sort of 'car advantage'. Setup ability is the main difference between the better teams in GP2 and the back guys. And as we know from F1, its not always easy to come up with the ideal setup, especially given the lack of practice the teams/drivers get before a race compared to F1. So things can easily get mixed up. The top teams are those who come up with good setups race-in, race-out. In other words, consistency is what sets the top teams apart. If you're not in a top team, then you're bound to have inconsistent results, because no driver can shine in a badly(relative) setup car.

Sure, I wouldn't say he's Grosjean levels of aggressive, but he's even admitted himself at times that he needs to cool it when passing slower cars. It looks great when it comes off but can also lead to some rather expensive accidents. Then again, this is what the lower formulae are for, learning his craft. I'd say he's got it about just about spot on now though.



That's all well and good but I feel you could say that about any formula, not just GP2. The cream always rises to the top or at least makes itself visible, even if driving a weak car, Senna at Toleman, Alonso at Minardi, Vettel at Mucke/STR etc. VdG's been around a while and never really lived up to the hype, though I'll admit I should give Perez a chance this year with a better car than his 2009 one.

I know GP2 magnifies this issue a bit due to the lack of practice time, but I've never really felt since GP2 started that any talent (except perhaps Parente) that deserved to have a shot at F1 hasn't made it due to not being able to find a top line GP2 drive.

I think you're ignoring that its extremely hard to be one of these 'F1 hopefuls' unless you've been tested in a top team.

Drivers in GP2 shine all the time in lower level teams. Valerio, just this last year, won *dominantly* in the feature race at Silverstone, but was nowhere the rest of the season. Its just *very* hard to do it consistently, largely because the team they drive for simply cant give them a car that can show their skills on a consistent basis.

You wouldn't *know* that a talent was being passed up or not, if they were in a lower team. Lets face it, nobody becomes an 'up-and-comer' until they've finishes brightly in lower series. But just like F1, that relies on you being in a good team. So its pretty much *only* drivers in good teams who get noticed. You can argue that the better drivers get the better seats(just like in F1), but even these lower-level series teams struggle with the same perception problem that we fans do. How can you know for sure how good a driver is unless they've driven in a consistent team(a top team, in other words)?

Getting in a good seat in motorsports is pretty much the *only* way up. And not everybody is lucky enough to land one of these seats. I'm sure there's hundreds of talents that have gotten lost somewhere along the way, just not in the right place at the right time.

Yeah that's about right but that goes for a lot. I never played cricket but who knows I might've been insanely good at it. There's a lot of talent 'wasted' all the time in this world. You need talent, connections and it needs to go your way. Some would call it ''luck'' and others hard work. Needless to say they all work hard probably, but that extra edge in management or trying to find sponsors, best teams might go a long way... or you have some sugardaddy, that's ok too

It does relate to a lot of things in life. Smart people are left jobless, and idiots are made-millionaires. There's not much 'fair' about it.

And all I'm asking is that people try and be 'fair' to drivers who haven't had a shot in a top team. I'm not saying we should pay attention to the Sakon Yamamoto's of the world, just that a driver who really impresses on occasion in a smaller team should automatically deserve a little notice. Dont write these guys off. They need all the support they can get. I'm all for giving a promising driver a chance. After all, I'm not in the position of a team owner who has to go for the *safer* choices, ya know?

I know exactly what you're saying and I agree with your other post about always giving new talent a chance - otherwise you end up with a grid full of Trullis and De la Rosas who don't know when to let go, don't you.

With Valerio I half-expected him to be quick at Silverstone for the same reason Conway was for Super Nova in GP2 at Silverstone - they both had F3 experience of the track up and over their rivals and so were on the front foot all weekend which is huge in GP2 as how you kick off Friday practice pretty much dictates your entire weekend. Which underlines my point of this lack of track time and similar cars (I know some teams have better engineers than others, but the cars are a hell of a lot more even than in F1) impresses me when certain drivers run at the front all year as they can't all have had experience of the tracks given their age.

Of course you'll always get talent that slips through the net in any sport, but I'm a firm believer that if someone is both talented and works their backside off to maintain, build and promote the talent, they will be picked up or at least spotted and admired by people like you and I. It's like any industry, the individual owes it to themselves to position themselves in the best position possible to get to the front of the queue. Write a good song and you end up working with the best producers, A&R, PR, writers etc. for your next few songs and it snow balls into more success. Impress in a football tournament and talent scouts from Man Utd may offer you a scholarship, allowing you to work with the best management, coaches, players and facilities each day leading to a potentially successful career and so forth. My point is you can't just lie back and rely on being half decent at any discipline, this is how you end up with what you said of smart people being left jobless and idiots becoming millionaires. It's just about working at it - I agree with you that they're all talented and quick in GP2, even the slower guys, but you need to have an edge to really make it.

Probably going off topic now haha so back on it. Bianchi has it good because he's not only very talented but he's worked hard to align himself with one of the most influential managers in the sport, in the same way Hulk and in a way Hamilton did via McLaren. It's no coincidence all three of them are on the path to success.

Pole position!

Ace performance by Jules, likewise for Parente putting a Coloni on 5th place.

Bianchi's pole lap in Bahrain yesterday was one of the most outstanding quali laps I have ever seen in GP2. I've got high hopes for this kid. He's got a frighteningly natural talent, to the extent that it all just appears so natural to him. His moves in Abu Dhabi, while a bit ragged, were just so instinctive and reactionary. Huge fun to watch. Roll on the main series.

He was cutting through the field in Abu Dhabi, and sometimes it can't be done without being ragged.
But most of those guys there seemed totally uncapable of defending themselves even if their lives depended on it.

it seems to me a bit unfair that Jules Bianchi the GP2 pilot is pitted against Sergio Perez the F1 GP pilot.... in a shoot out.

Is Ferrari trying to get rid of Bianchi?

no, its just a test. i havent heard anything about anyone leaving. if Segio does go to Ferrari, then Jules will probably go to Sauber.

Bianchi has already got experience of driving the 2009 Ferrari through driving in the 2009 young driver test IIRC, so it is Perez who has got the cards stacked against him with him never having driven it IIRC.

No i dont think so. Bianchi's a big talent and i think if he can match perez in this test you might find him in f1 next year depending on whether he cuts out the mistakes he's made in GP2 this year.

This is just me speculating but I think Ferrari may also know this and take that into consideration when they evaluate the results from the test

/Viktor

I guess Bianchi crashed them too often. Go Sergio!