Jules Bianchi
1. Who was he?
Jules Bianchi was a French pilot, born August 3, 1989 in Nice (France) and died July 17, 2015 in the same city. He was a Formula 1 driver for the Marussia team.
2. Junior course
Descendant of a family with a rich history in motorsport (grandson of Mauro Bianchi and great-nephew of Lucien Bianchi, winner of the 24 1968 Hours of Le Mans), Jules Bianchi enters single-seaters with fanfare by becoming the youngest champion of France from Formula Renault in 2007 at just 18 years old. His manager Nicolas Todt propelled him to the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2008. In an ultra-competitive series, he placed third behind his teammate Nico Hülkenberg and Edoardo Mortara. The coronation comes a year later, still in the French team ART Grand Prix. In the meantime, Nicolas Prost has placed his foal in the Ferrari fold and its academy reserved for hopefuls. Progress continues in the GP2 Series. Despite some up-and-down results, he finished as the best rookie (3rd overall) and was named test driver for the Scuderia. He seems to be marking time slightly in 2011, despite a first victory in the antechamber of F1 (3rd overall again). In order to stay on the radars of F1 teams, he bet on trying Formula Renault 3.5 with Tech 1 Racing. His 2012 season is more solid, in the middle of a more qualitative plateau. The final in Barcelona (Spain) ended in stormy fashion. His opponent Robin Frijns unceremoniously dispatches him into the gravel and is titled despite this maneuver. Jules Bianchi becomes third Force India driver and finds an opening within the modest Marussia team (ex-Virgin) to become a starter in 2013.
3. F1 journey
As expected, Jules Bianchi did not score any points during his discovery season, the Marussia being a car from the back of the grid. However, the Niçois impresses with his maturity, his error-free driving and especially his pace in qualifying. He makes short work of his teammate, Max Chilton. We will particularly remember his performance at Sepang (Malaysia), where he was more than a second behind his colleague and his rivals from Caterham, although at a similar level. The 13th place acquired the next day in the race allows Marussia to move up to 10th in the Manufacturers' standings, a rank synonymous with a financial bonus at the end of the year. The Frenchman confirmed his ease with a passage in Q2 at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) on a drying track. Renewed for 2014, Jules Bianchi continues to make his mark while F1 switches to the V6 turbo hybrid engine. He also obtained several tests reserved for young drivers at Ferrari. The masterpiece of his (too short) career was realized in Monaco. In the streets of the Principality, Jules Bianchi ignored the meager potential of the MR03 and climbed up to ninth place. His overtaking of Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham) with forceps is an example of combativeness. Radio paddock expects him to join Sauber in 2015, or even Ferrari in the medium term. Unfortunately, a loss of control in the rain in Suzuka (Japan) on October 5 sent him crashing into a lifting machine at 123 km/h, which had come to clear Adrian Sutil's Sauber. Victim of serious head trauma, Jules Bianchi is plunged into a coma. He died after more than nine months of a long fight, at the Nice hospital. His family subsequently launched the Jules Bianchi Association, in order to raise funds to help severely brain-injured patients and those around them.
4. AUTOhebdo’s opinion
Jules Bianchi crystallized the hopes of an entire country while France was going through a slump in Formula 1. The Niçois would have deserved better than a steering wheel in a team at the back of the grid. The loss of an F1 driver, for the first time since Ayrton Senna 10 years earlier, shook the sport, and led to a series of measures to avoid such a tragedy, such as the Virtual Safety Car (VSC), which requires drivers to slow down while a car is cleared.
Jules Bianchi’s results in single-seaters
Highlights of Jules Bianchi's career
MOTORSPORT - F1 2009 - JEREZ ROOKIE TESTS - 01 TO 04/11/2009 - JEREZ (SPA) - PHOTO: JEAN MICHEL LE MEUR / DPPI JULES BIANCHI (FRA) - FERRARI F109 - ATMOSPHERE PORTRAIT
MOTORSPORT - WORLD SERIES BY RENAULT 2012 - CATALUNYA - BARCELONA (ESP) - 19 TO 21/10/2012 - PHOTO: JEAN MICHEL LE MEUR / DPPI - 08 JULES BIANCHI (FRA) - FORMULA RENAULT 3.5 SERIES - TECH 1 RACING - ACTION
MOTORSPORT - F3 EUROSERIES 2009 - CATALUNYA - BARCELONA (SPA) - 18 TO 20/09/2009 - PHOTO: AIROLDI / DPPI Jules Bianchi (FRA) - ART Grand Prix - Dallara F308 / Mercedes - AMBIANCE - PORTRAIT - PODIUM
associated researches
Drivers of his generation
