🇫🇷 Jules Bianchi

Jules Bianchi was an established professional racing driver who competed in single-seater championships across eight seasons from 2007 to 2014. He raced primarily for ART Grand Prix in the lower formulae before stepping up to Formula 1, where he drove for Marussia in 2013 and 2014. His cars ranged from Formula 3 machinery through to the pinnacle of single-seater racing.[1]

Bianchi's breakthrough came in the Formula 3 Euro Series, where he won the 2009 championship with ART Grand Prix after taking 11 wins and 19 podiums across 34 starts. He then progressed through GP2 Series racing for Lotus ART, taking a single win across two seasons while accumulating 10 podiums from 29 starts; his final GP2 campaign in 2011 saw him finish second in the championship standings, and he took two wins and six podiums across 15 rounds. He also competed in Formula V8 3.5 in 2012, where he won three races and finished on the podium eight times from 15 starts with Tech 1 Racing. Across 117 starts in his indexed career, he took 15 wins and 37 podiums.[2]

In the established professional fields he raced in, Bianchi held his own against drivers who went on to significant careers in the sport. He regularly competed with Sam Bird and Esteban Gutiérrez, both of whom became established professionals; Gutiérrez later raced in Formula 1, while Bird became a multiple champion in endurance racing. Bianchi's career included meetings with much stronger drivers moving up through the ranks: he beat Nico Hülkenberg on seven occasions as both progressed through Formula 3 and GP2, and he finished ahead of Nico Rosberg, the 2016 Formula 1 World Champion, once across their shared racing.