MONACO GRAND PRIX – FFSA PRESENTATION

27/05 - The FFSA has assembled all the French F1 players around its young drivers

French drivers Jules Bianchi, Charles Pic, Jean-Eric Vergne, Nathanaël Berthon, Arthur Pic, Norman Nato, Nelson Panciatici, Romain Grosjean and Adrien Tambay, as well as numerous people involved in Formula 1 were assembled this afternoon in the Résidence de France in Monaco during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend at the initiative of Nicolas Deschaux, President of the French Motor Sports Federation, and Mrs Odile Remik, French ambassador in Monaco.

In the context of the ‘Equipe de France’ programme, the French Motor Sports Federation follows young drivers from karts to the very top level with the aim of achieving excellence under the supervision of Jean Alesi, Yvan Muller and the technical director.

This system enables the drivers to be integrated into the system by the FFSA starting with the 10/15 programme to the Equipe de France de Circuits team by way of the Equipe de France Karting and the French F4 Championship organized by the federal training centre, the Auto Sport Academy.

In rallying, another top-level branch of motor sport, the French federal know-how has carried out talent spotting operation and has backed drivers such as Sébastien Ogier, who has become a benchmark alongside Sébastien Loeb, and is currently racing in the World Rally Championship including the French round on 29th September-2nd October 2011.

“Today, accessing Formula 1 isn’t just a question of talent, our French drivers need more than ever before financial backing, which the State, their agents and the major French companies must combine to provide ,” stated Nicolas Deschaux, the FFSA President.
“Jules, Charles, Jean-Eric, Nathanaël, Arthur, Norman, Nelson, Romain and Adrien all have the right qualities: speed, courage, tenacity and intelligence, which are only asking to be showcased at the topmost level.”

The Equipe de France de Circuit drivers

Jules Bianchi - Equipe de France de Circuit, 2008-2011
Since 2004, this young driver who is racing for the Lotus-ART team this year has built up a good set of results. These include first in the French and European Championships in 2004, first in the Asia-Pacific World Cup (Karts, Formula A) in 2005. In 2008 he became part of the Equipe de France de Karting for 2 years. In 2007, he won the Formula Renault Championship and the F3 Master at Zolder in 2008, plus the F3 Euro Series title in 2009. Today he is racing in the Asian and GP2 Series Championships.

Charles Pic – Equipe de France de Circuit 2008-2011
21-year-old Pic drives for the Barwa Addax team after racing karts for several years in the Junior categories. He then won several French Formula Renault 2.0 Champion titles in 2007, was 3rd in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and Formula Renault 3.5 series. Today he is racing in the Asian and GP2 Series Championships.

Jean-Eric Vergne - Equipe de France de Circuit 2008-2011
He made his competition debut in 2000 and racked up successes in karts with a year in the Equipe de France and then in Formula Renault 2.0 winning the French Championship in 2008. In 2010, he raced in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series scoring 1 victory and 4 podiums. The same year he won the British F3 International Championship title and he is also the Red Bull F1 simulator driver. This year he is racing in the World Series by Renault.

Nathanaël Berthon - Equipe de France de Circuit 2010-2011
Aged twenty-two, Berthon has raced in several championships finishing third in the French 2005 Championship, as well as third in the 2009 Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup and first place in the French Formula Renault Championship the same year. Today he is racing in Formula Renault 3.5.

Arthur Pic - Equipe de France Circuit 2010-2011
Arthur has followed in the footsteps of his elder brother, Charles, and made his debut in the Cadets category. He came fourth in the 2006 French Junior Championship. He then joined the Auto Sport Academy and finished first in the Formul’Academy Euro Series in 2008. In 2009, he came fourth in the French Formula Renault 2.0 Series. This year, he is racing in the World Series by Renault.

Norman Nato - Equipe de France Circuit 2011
The 19 year old from Cannes scored first places right from his debut. He won the French Cadets Championship and the Julie Tonelli Junior Trophy in 2004, the French Junior Championship title and Julie Tonelli Trophy in 2005, and then the Champions Cup in 2007. Between 2007 and 2009 he was part of the Equipe de France de Karting and scored a third place in the 2008 Bridgestone Cup, This year he is racing in the World Series by Renault and the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup.

Nelson Panciatici - Equipe de France Circuit 2007
Nelson was a member of the Equipe de France de Karting in 2003-04, and he then raced in Formula Renault in 2005 winning the FFSA Elite Grand Prix. After a year in the Equipe de France de Circuit, he raced in F3 (runner-up Spanish Championship in 2008) followed by GP2. Since 2010 he has been a member of the Lotus Junior Racing team in the World Series by Renault 3.5.

Romain Grosjean - Equipe de France Circuit 2006-2008
Romain made his debut in karts in 2000. He then came first in the Swiss Formula Lista Championship in 2003 and won the French Formula Renault 2.0 Championship two years later. He was a member of the Equipe de France de Circuit between 2006-08. He won the F3 Euro Series in 2006 and the GP2 Asia Series in 2009. He is a test driver for the Renault F1 team and is racing for the DAMS squad in the GP2 series in Monaco.

Adrien Tambay - Equipe de France Circuit 2008-2009
Tambay made his debut in karting at an early age scoring numerous successes. He joined the Equipe de France de Karting in 2006 after which he started driving single-seaters in 2007 and was the best rookie in Formula BMW ADAC. In 2008, he stayed in Formula BMW in the European Championship finishing third. He has been a member of the Equipe de France de Circuit for 2 years. He was recruited by the ART Grand Prix team to race in the F3 Euro Series, after which he raced in AutoGP for the Renault F1 Team.