- Monaco GP - Race
Bianchi claims historic points finish for Marussia
Jules Bianchi claimed a historic ninth in Monaco to earn Marussia its first points finish in F1 since its inception as Virgin Racing in 2010.
Bianchi started the race from the back of the grid after a gearbox change overnight, before serving a five-second stop/go penalty for starting from the wrong position after Pastor Maldonado stalled on the formation lap. But Bianchi turned in a great display of attacking and defensive driving either side of his pit stop, barging past Kamui Kobayashi at Rascasse early on before defending from Romain Grosjean in the latter part of the race.
Bianchi eventually crossed the line in eighth, but that became ninth after he suffered a five-second deduction for serving his original penalty under the safety car. Bianchi knows how long the team has waited for a point and he says he is delighted to be the one to claim the historic finish.
"We have been waiting for this for a long and now that we have done it I am so proud of the team," Bianchi said. "They did a really good job and I am really happy to give them the result,"
"It was really stressful for me in the car and I guess it was for the team as well as we had some penalties, so I was lucky to finish in the points. I cannot say anymore, it is just amazing.
"It is really positive for me. It has been a really tough start to the season for me, the first three races were really difficult for me. I needed a really good result like this. The team has been waiting for this for four years and now we have done that so I'm really happy to be the driver to score the first points."
Bianchi says the seeds were sewn for the team at the Barcelona test earlier this month, where Max Chilton topped the first day with a supersoft run, and thinks Marussia's focus must now be on scoring points again in 2014.
"Yes we have improved that car, we saw a step in the Barcelona test, the car was much more balanced and that made it much better for this race. Obviously now we have to keep our feet on the ground, we have scored points which is good, but we know without good luck we won't be in the points so we need to calm down a bit after tonight because we know we need more improvement."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
