Head of Ferrari’s development academy Luca Baldisserri has been pleased with Jules Bianchi’s debut Formula One season to-date.
The 24-year-old Frenchman is highly thought of in the F1 paddock and was in with a shot of taking one of the seats at Force India over the winter, only to be beaten to the seat by Adrian Sutil.
That left him without a drive in Formula One until a late switch at Marussia, saw him step into the team to replace Luiz Razia who had lost his seat due to financial issues.
That move was only completed in March and Bianchi has wasted no time in impressing his new team, finishing 13th in Malaysia, a result that so far places Marussia in the crucial tenth place in the F1 constructors championship ahead of Caterham.
‘Jules has completed the move to Formula 1 without any problems,’ Baldisserri told Sky Sports.
He continued: ‘He has become the benchmark driver for the team, gaining its confidence at the track. I consider it a fundamental move, especially in Formula 1.
But whilst the development boss was happy with Bianchi’s move to Marussia, he was coy over whether or not he will stay with the team.
A recent engine deal between Ferrari and Marussia is reportedly a separate deal to that of Marussia signing Bianchi and it sounds like Ferrari would not be opposed to moving the Frenchman to another team if a more competitive race seat became available.
‘Clearly, currently Jules is not in a situation where he can fight in the midfield and for the future, it will be important to know if his presence in Formula 1 will have some continuity and in that case, what could be the potential of his team.’
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