Di Montezemolo: Bianchi was the future of Ferrari

Upon the announcement of the passing of Jules Bianchi, the first Formula 1 driver to die as a result of a Grand Prix accident since Ayrton Senna, tributes from thousands of places honored the memory and talent of the 25-year-old driver. Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo knew the driver from Nice well, having taken him under his wing with the Ferrari Driver Academy: “I am close to his family, who have shown immense courage in recent months, and his many friends. We have lost a great man. We will all remember Jules with deep affection,” he said on Sunday.

Jules Bianchi had signed a contract with Sauber for the 2015 season. Ferrari intended to better prepare him for higher responsibilities, probably as early as 2016 to replace Kimi Räikkönen. He was one of us, a member of the Ferrari family, continues Luca di Montezemolo in the Italian press. He was the future of Ferrari when our collaboration with Kimi Räikkönen would come to an end. He was someone of the highest class, shy, fast, polite, very attached to Ferrari, and was destined for a bright future, but fate took him from us. Jules leaves behind a huge void.

The sporting director of the Manor team, Graeme Lowdon, also thinks that Jules Bianchi was destined for a bright future: « In my opinion, he could have been crowned in F1 in the future. You just had to see him walk around our garage to realize it. The best drivers have that little something that others don’t, and he was truly very impressive in everything he did. He was a great young guy, an extremely impressive race car driver, but above all, he was an exceptional and very warm human being. »

Jules Bianchi’s talent was revealed to the general public in his first Formula 1 season in 2013, where he helped his Marussia team achieve 10th place in the constructors’ standings thanks to a 13th place finish in Malaysia. The Frenchman was awarded the Rookie of the Year title.

The funeral of Jules Bianchi will take place on Tuesday in Nice.