Jules Bianchi expects Marussia to make further gains having re-signed to drive for them next year.
“I think Marussia will be a better team next year, we’ll improve a lot,” said Bianchi. “We show an improvement this year but next year will be a bigger step.”
Bianchi added he’s settled in quickly with the team following his last-minute switch to them during pre-season testing having missed out on the chance to drive for Force India.
“I’m like at home with the team since the beginning when I was testing for the first time in Barcelona,” said Bianchi.
“I’m really happy with that and I really want to thank Marussia for the opportunity again and thank as well my manager Nicolas [Todt] and Ferrari for all what they have down.”
2013 F1 season
- Mercedes originally favoured Heidfeld for Hamilton’s seat
- Take F1 Fanatic’s new 2013 season quiz
- F1 Fanatic’s new year thanks and credits 2014
- The complete F1 Fanatic 2013 season review
- The drivers, teams and cars of 2013
Browse all 2013 F1 season articles
Image © Marussia
Harry Westwood (@sirspuddington)
3rd October 2013, 18:03
I wonder how glad they are that they didn’t let Razia (I think it was) drive their car ;)
PhilEReid (@philereid)
3rd October 2013, 18:28
@sirspuddington And how upset Force India are they didn’t keep Bianchi.
HK (@me4me)
3rd October 2013, 20:41
@phlereid Not necessarily. If the Merc engine turns out to be better (best?) next year, then it was a good move to get Sutil instead of the Bianchi-Ferrari package.
JamieFranklinF1 (@jamiefranklinf1)
3rd October 2013, 19:11
Marussia have a great chance to take a huge step forward next year, but it will depend a lot on the varying performances of the engines. Should Ferrari get it right, then they have a very good chance at points.
I was reading an article in Autosport earlier, which was saying how with all the technology involved, it could be very difficult for the engineers to get the engines to be both powerful and save fuel efficiently, not to mention reliability. Obviously this isn’t anything new, but it is exciting how a team like Marussia could really benefit here.
I mean, even if the engines are relatively equal, it’s still a huge step up for Marussia to get rid of those awful Cosworth engines!
Roald (@roald)
4th October 2013, 1:04
@jamiefranklinf1 I think the Cosworth engines were revving the highest in 2006, the rev limit really cost them.
Breno (@austus)
3rd October 2013, 23:20
The lack of sponsors on the Marussia is intriguing. Even if they are a smaller team, smaller companies should be interested in at least putting their logo in F1.