Ferrari signs Jules Bianchi
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| Jules Bianchi |
The 20-year-old Frenchman, whose career is being handled by Felipe Massa's manager Nicolas Todt, has been signed for an unspecified role by the Italian team.
Veteran Fisichella insists his role as Ferrari's new third driver is secure, but rumors have indicated that the late arrival of Bianchi could see the Roman relegated.
Bianchi will race this year for Todt's ART team in GP2.
"I am thinking about my first season in GP2," he told the French newspaper La Tribune. "After that, we will see about the future and F1."
12/02/09 (GMM) Jules Bianchi has signed a long-term contract with Ferrari and will continue his race towards formula one with a GP2 seat with the ART team in 2010.
The 20-year-old Frenchman is managed by Nicolas Todt, who also handles Felipe Massa, owns the ART outfit and is the son of the former Ferrari boss and FIA president Jean Todt.
Bianchi won the F3 Euroseries this year with Todt's team, and this week is making his formula one test debut with a two-day test at Jerez.
On Tuesday he was fifth quickest at the wheel of Ferrari's F60 single seater.
Ferrari confirmed that Bianchi is "part of the group of Ferrari drivers", elaborating that he has signed a "multi-year contract" similar to the one that saw Massa make his way into F1 in 2002 and eventually secure a race seat with the famous Italian team.
"This is the first step on a journey that could turn out very nicely, but I'm equally aware that there is still a long way to go to get to formula one," said Bianchi.
He is the grandson of Mauro Bianchi, a GT world champion, and the nephew of Lucien, Le Mans winner and competitor at 19 grands prix in the 60s.
12/01/09 Jules Bianchi (http://www.jules-bianchi.com/) has been signed as a Ferrari driver. The champion of the F3 Euro Series has signed a multiyear contract with the Maranello team. The Frenchman is thus the first youngster selected by Ferrari that the Junior Program seeks to promote. The two-day test at Jerez for Bianchi was, therefore, really a commitment for the role of test driver.
Bianchi (born August 3, 1989 in Nice, France) is a French racing driver.
Jules is the grandson of Mauro Bianchi, 3 times World Champion in the GT category, and the grandnephew of Lucien, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and competed in nineteen Grands Prix in the Formula One World Championship between 1959 and 1968, with a podium finish in Monaco. More….