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Victory has to be Ferrari’s target on Sunday
to close down Sebastian Vettel’s ten point
lead over Fernando Alonso; the Prancing
Horse has won the United States Grand Prix
twelve times, more than any other team. |
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He has shown
talent and determination and, with Scuderia Ferrari’s
support, he has fought all the way to the end of the
season, delivering some strong performances on the way
and he is looking forward to taking to the track at the
Circuit of the Americas this weekend: Fernando Alonso?
No, Jules Bianchi. The young Frenchman, a student of the
FDA (Ferrari Driver Academy) finished second in this
year’s World Series by Renault, looking set to take the
title at the last round, until taken out by a
questionable move from the driver who went on to be
champion. “It was a difficult final race, given that I
was heading for the win until that incident, but that’s
part of racing and I prefer to look ahead and think
about next year,” says the Frenchman.
While his racing is over for the year, Bianchi will be
continuing with another role he took on this season,
namely third driver for the Sahara Force India Formula 1
team and he will be driving the Friday morning session
for the Silverstone-based squad this weekend in Austin
at the penultimate round of the 2012 Formula 1 World
Championship. The role keeps him in the spotlight while
he tries to move up the motorsport ladder for next year.
“I learned a lot from this role and from driving in
FP1,” continues Bianchi. “Even if I’d driven before at
the previous year’s Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi and
also at Jerez, it’s not the same as driving during a
race weekend, because you are under a lot more pressure.
I feel I have grown up a lot with this experience and I
am now ready to be a race driver in Formula 1. I hope I
find an official seat for next year as this is
definitely my dream. I feel I had a good season in World
Series and did a good job with Force India as well, so I
feel ready and think I deserve a seat in Formula 1.” If
that’s Bianchi’s short term goal, his long term one is
equally clear: “My dream is to race for Ferrari one
day!”
As part of his role with the Scuderia, Bianchi has spent
a lot of time in the simulator and, for this weekend’s
first visit to a brand new race circuit, the virtual
race track has proved even more important than usual.
“When you start Friday practice, you must be able to go
to the limit immediately otherwise you won’t be
competitive when it comes to qualifying and for this,
the simulator is a great help and the best way to learn
the track,” confirms Bianchi. “The Austin track layout
looks really interesting with many quick corners. The
first part is similar to the first sector in Japan and
then the Becketts complex at Silverstone. I think it
will be very interesting in terms of driving, while
there are also many slow corners. Overall, judging from
the simulator, I’d say it’s one of the best tracks.
Everyone in Maranello has been working very hard to
improve the performance of the F2012 for this race and,
in my opinion, it should be competitive at the Circuit
of the Americas. It is always difficult to overtake in
Formula 1, but in Austin, you have two heavy braking
points with a long straight in between, so there should
be plenty of overtaking opportunities this weekend.” The
Circuit of the Americas is another track from the pen of
Hermann Tilke. Built in less than two years in Travis
County, near the Texas capital, Austin, it passed its
last inspection as fit to stage the United States Grand
Prix back on 25 September. The track is over five and a
half kilometres long and runs anti-clockwise, featuring
over 20 corners and going through a height change of 41
metres.
Once his Friday morning duties are over, Bianchi’s
attention will no doubt focus on the main topic of the
weekend, the battle for the Drivers’ Championship.
Victory has to be the Scuderia’s target on Sunday to
close down Sebastian Vettel’s ten point lead over
Fernando Alonso. The Prancing Horse has won the United
States Grand Prix twelve times; more than any other
team. Pedantic statisticians argue about how many races
were actual United States Grands Prix, with some known
as “USA West” and others “USA East,” but the baseline is
that there have been a total of 51 races held in the
country since the world championship began, dating back
to Sebring in 1959.
It’s true to say that the USA has not always taken to
Formula 1 and the series has had a peripatetic time
across the Atlantic and Austin will be the tenth venue
to stage the race. However, the United States and the
Prancing Horse go back a long way together, writing key
moments in the history of motor racing, such as Phil
Hill becoming the first American to become F1 World
Champion, back in 1961 at the wheel of a Ferrari, the
beautiful 156 “shark nose.” The last time Formula 1 came
here was back in 2007, with the race taking place at the
famous Indianapolis circuit and Fernando finished
second, although not in a red car, and behind him in
third was his current team-mate, Felipe Massa, who came
second at the same venue one year earlier. A good omen?
Let’s hope so.
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