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Bianchi wants to build on strong debut

Jules Bianchi set the 11th-fastest lap in Melbourne, just 0.05s slower than Sebastian Vettel's © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Jules Bianchi

• Teams:
• Manor

Jules Bianchi is hoping to build on his strong Formula One debut at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Having missed out on a seat at Force India, Bianchi was recruited by Marussia as a late replacement for Luiz Razia after Razia's funding fell through. Despite going in to the weekend with just one and a half test days for Marussia under his belt, Bianchi comfortably beat his team-mate Max Chilton and said he feels "very comfortable" in the team already following the first race.

"It has been nice to take a couple of days in Australia to really absorb the experience of my first Formula 1 race last weekend," Bianchi said. "There were quite a lot of new things to be faced with, including driving a race of that distance for the first time and bringing together everything that I had learned in the days before.

"This week I have had the chance to think everything through - what I have learned and where I need to go from here. I had a good debrief with my engineering team and I feel very comfortable, so now I start to think about Malaysia."

Looking ahead to Malaysia this weekend, Bianchi said there were many areas he hoped to improve and that he was already in a better position to try and do so.

"I've done some work in the simulator and I think Sepang is a circuit I'm going to enjoy. I know the challenge it brings in terms of the heat and humidity, so I'm prepared for that. Although my debut went well, there are some areas that I need to work on and where I can improve - as you would expect - so this race we will have a little more time and experience to think about what we need to do to keep pushing forward. I'm hoping for another good performance in the race on Sunday of course."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.