30 years ago, on the 3rd June 1984, a 24 year-old grabbed the attention of the world after sensationally taking a lowly Toleman to narrowly miss out on victory, from the closest of margins, away from Mclaren's Alain Prost around the rain-soaked streets of Monaco.
That, of course, was to be the prologue of a man destined to forever be immortalised as a Formula One legend. Ayrton Senna.
Now, 30 years later, on the 25th May 2014, a 24 year-old grabbed the attention of the world in Monaco...
It was not to be in quite the same scintillating fashion as Senna's charge through the grid in wet conditions, but Jules Bianchi's drive in Monte Carlo- the highlight of which being his aggressive, yet fair, overtake at Rascasse on Caterham's Kamui Kobayashi, is no less extraordinary; especially considering the Frenchman's 9th place would not only earn him his first two Formula One World Championship points, but also his team, Marussia, who had gone 83 Grand Prix's waiting to be the first new Formula One teams of 2010 (HRT, Lotus- now Caterham and Virgin Racing which is now Marussia), to see points against their name.
 |
| Bianchi in his Championship winning year in Formula 3 (2009) |
Jules started his racing career in 2007 when he won the French Formula Renault 2.0 Championship, winning 5 races and achieving 5 Pole Positions. Over the coming years, more race wins and Championships in Formula 3 and GP2 helped him be the first signing of the Ferrari Driver Academy programme in 2009.
In 2011, he would become a test driver for Scuderia Ferrari before joining Force India as their reserve driver the following year.
Following Kimi Raikkonen's horrific crash at the British Grand Prix at the start of this month where he was fortunate to walk away with only heavy bruising to his leg and ankle, this meant he was unable to take part in the In-Season testing at Silvestone the following week. This allowed Jules Bianchi to fill in for the Finn. On the final day of testing, Bianchi was fastest of all with a time of 1:35.262, further signalling the potential this young man from Nice has and what he is capable of achieving behind the wheel of a car that can compete at the front end of the grid, unlike the Marussia which has masked the speed he naturally possesses.
 |
| Staring at a permanent seat in Ferrari? |
Arguably, Bianchi's spike in performance could not have come at a greater time; as Ferrari look to drastically restructure the team and try and bring back the glory years the faithful Tifosi are accustomed too; with Marco Mattiacci taking over from Stefano Domenicali as Team Principle. There is speculation too of a quiet frustration building within Fernando Alonso who so desperately yearns for a third World Championship. Take into account as well the fact Kimi Raikkonen is highly likely to retire from Formula One after his contract ends in 2015, which presents the possibility of
two empty Ferrari seats if Alonso does decide to leave for Red Bull or Mercedes.
If Jules continues to impress and maintain this form, he would have to be at the top of Ferrari President Luca Di Montezemolo's wishlist of drivers and in doing so would vindicate the youth programme of Ferrari that, as Red Bull have proven with Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, is vital for producing the stars of tomorrow- motioning the start of a truly new era of Ferrari with one of the brightest new talents of this golden generation.
Will Bianchi follow in the footsteps of Jean Alesi, the popular Frenchman? Time will tell. But if Jules is given the opportunity to drive for the infamous prancing horse, we will look back on those two Championship Points of the 2014 season in Monaco that may prove to be the prelude to a future legend of the sport in the making.
