Jules Bianchi
Jules Lucien André Bianchi (born 3rd August 1989 in Nice, France) is a French Formula One driver currently driving for TRILUX AMG Precision Motorsport.
He is the grandson of Mauro Bianchi, who was a successful racer in the 1960s. He is also the grandnephew of Lucien Bianchi, who made history in 1954 when he became the first F1 driver under the age of 20.
Formula One
2015-: Mercedes/Precision
Bianchi made his Formula One debut in 2015 for Mercedes, replacing the underperforming Jeroen Krautmeir at the German team. He made an immediate impact, taking an unexpected fourth place in his debut race. Unfortunately, the bright start didn't amount to much more in this debut season - only finishing in the points on two more occasions.
Bianchi's position in the team was precarious for a while in the lead up to 2016 with the Precision buyout of Mercedes - but it was soon announced that he'd be joined by highly rated Finn Valtteri Bottas at the German outfit. Bianchi took a real stride forward in the early stages of 2016, with a maiden podium in Brazil followed by a first ever win in the Pacific Grand Prix. Bianchi took two more wins that year and wowed the F1 paddock with an impressive fourth place in the World Driver's Championship in his first full season.
The team kept - at least at the beginning - the successful lineup of Bottas and Bianchi for a second season in 2017, with Bottas being dropped for Esteban Ocon in the middle of the season. Bianchi scored a fourth career win in the Indian Grand Prix and was fairly consistent for the rest of the season, finishing fourth in the championship for the second year running.
2018 saw Bianchi as a pre-season favourite for the title - with the Precision seeming like a formidable package for the first time, despite the rival Caterham super team of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton being faster in testing. A blip in the season opener was followed by seven straight podiums - putting the Frenchman in real good stead for the title - before a crash at the Cyprus Grand Prix ruled the Frenchman out for a race. Bianchi took several races to get back up to speed allowing Vettel and Hamilton to rack up the points. Once back up to peak performance, Bianchi was beginning to catch Vettel - however it was much too much, much too late for the Frenchman as he missed out on the title by just six points.
Bianchi was joined by ARWS defectee Diego Álvarez Torrente in 2019 in another season where Precision were competitive but not at the upmost echelon. Sauber were the strongest package in the hands of Pastor Maldonado and Dean Stoneman but Bianchi was still able to take six wins in this season, enough for third in the World Driver's Championship.
The 2020 Precision package finally looked to be the car to beat and Bianchi started the season well with two wins - taking an early lead in the first half of the season. This lead extended throughout the whole year but he'd be tragically pipped to the title by his teammate Torrente in the final race of the season.
Personal Life
Bianchi is close personal friends with fellow Formula One driver Charles Leclerc, who is also his godson.