In an interview with Autosport earlier last week, Marussia driver Jules Bianchi has called on Marussia to “attack” in the second half of the season as that’s the best way to defend their ninth position in the Constructors Championship.
Marussia are in the usual position of ninth in this year’s Constructors’ Championship thanks to Bianchi’s ninth place in the Monaco Grand Prix. Those two points have put his team ahead of not only Caterham but also Sauber, who have yet to get off the mark this season.
Should Marussia hold onto ninth, the team stands to pocket around $30 million, much-needed money for the struggling outfit. However, in his interview with Autosport Bianchi believes that in order to secure that, his team needs to attack. Bianchi stated the following:-
‘The best way to defend is to attack and we always have to attack. We just have to do everything we can to be in front all of the time, and I’m sure we will be strong until the end of the season. Our target is to remain ahead of Caterham and finish 10th in the championship, which will be a massive boost to the team.’
As Bianchi states in his interview, Marussia have to ensure that they bring as many improvements and upgrades as they possibly can not only to try and get in front of their rivals once again, but also ready to defend from them too. At this stage of the season, I do firmly believe that Marussia are miles ahead of their rivals Caterham for tenth in the championship but they need to try and push as much as possible in order to keep ninth which will only help the team for the future.
Despite making it into Q2 twice in the last three races, further on in his interview, Bianchi has stated that he fears that Marussia have taken a step back in terms of pace. Bianchi added the following:-
‘It is a bit frustrating when you have been regularly close to going into Q2 and it is not the case anymore. But that’s the reality and you have to deal with that and do the best with what you have. This is what we are doing at the moment.
‘The result in Monaco was massively important for this season but I knew it did not mean we would be regularly fighting for points. We are not able to do that unless we have a strange set of circumstances around us, but we took the opportunity when it came.’
Even though it is a great achievement for Bianchi and Marussia have got into Q2 twice in the last three races, it is clear that it will be a lot harder for them to achieve this throughout the course of the season ahead. But as Bianchi says, all he and Marussia can do is make the best of what they have and grab the opportunity to perform well as and when it comes, which is what they have been doing.
There is no denying that the result Bianchi achieved at Monaco was massively important for him and also for the Marussia team. However, Bianchi is realistic and knows that he hasn’t got the car underneath him to gain results like this on a regular basis. But the main thing is that Bianchi took the chance to gain this result when he is and highlighted for me just how talented he is and also what he could achieve if he had a competitive car at Marussia or at any other team who wish to sign him for the future.
I would have to agree with Bianchi. Marussia need to ensure that they use everything they have at their disposal to keep ninth place in the Constructors. It will be hard for them to keep the position, especially with Sauber making small improvements to their performance all the time. But all I can say is that Marussia and Bianchi need to ensure that if the opportunity once again comes for him to score some points in the sport, they must be in a position to deliver and take advantage of this.
But I do believe that Marussia will stay ahead of their rivals Caterham for tenth place in the Constructors Championship this season, unless Caterham improve radically which I do not see happening this season. But I have no doubt that Marussia will fight until the very last minute to defend their current position in the Constructors Championship, but will they be able to keep it? Only time will tell.
