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Maintaining the spot in the constructors’ chase ahead of Caterham and even Sauber would now be worth dozens of millions of dollars in F1 prize money to the struggling team.<\/p>\nMarussia crowned its hero Jules Bianchi in Monaco, after the French driver on Sunday delivered the backmarker team its first-ever F1 points.<\/p>\n
Maintaining the spot in the constructors’ chase ahead of Caterham and even Sauber would now be worth dozens of millions of dollars in F1 prize money to the struggling team.<\/p>\n
Ironically, however, Frenchman Bianchi’s feat could also cost Marussia the talented, Ferrari-backed driver.<\/p>\n
“It felt like a victory to me,” the 24-year-old said on Sunday.\u00a0 “Even if it does not mean so much for others, for us this ninth place is like a win,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.<\/p>\n
But Bianchi also admitted that Monaco 2014 could be the turning point in his career.<\/p>\n
“It can only help,” he said, “but as for the future, we will have to see as the season progresses.\u00a0 I do feel ready for a top team.”<\/p>\n
Bianchi’s result earned praise even from arguably the very best driver on the grid, Fernando Alonso.<\/p>\n
“He is not only a Ferrari junior driver,” said the Spaniard, “but also a friend.<\/p>\n
“We spend a lot of time together at Maranello,” Alonso is quoted by Speed Week.\u00a0 “We play football and basketball and also travel together a lot.\u00a0 I am so pleased for him.<\/p>\n
“I have no doubt that he will have a very good career and so I hope that this result helps him to find a competitive cockpit for next season,” he added.<\/p>\n
The task now for Bianchi’s manager, Nicolas Todt, is obvious.<\/p>\n
“It is often said that Monaco is a driver circuit,” said the Frenchman, the son of FIA president Jean Todt and also Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado’s manager.<\/p>\n
“Yes, he benefitted from what happened in the race but when you see his lap times, he had the pace.<\/p>\n
“My job now is to try to ride this little wave,” Todt is quoted by BFMTV, “as they do not come along every day.”<\/p>\n
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