Mallya hints race seat likely for Bianchi

Team owner and boss Vijay Mallya has played up Jules Bianchi’s hopes of eventually moving into the race cockpit.

This year, the Ferrari-linked Frenchman and former GP2 driver, who is managed by Felipe Massa’s manager Nicolas Todt, is Force India’s reserve and occasional ’Friday’ driver.

Force India’s current race drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta, have both been linked with better seats for 2013.

The Silverstone based team’s previous test drivers, Vitantonio Liuzzi, di Resta and Hulkenberg, were all subsequently promoted to a race seat.

"Let me put it this way," Mallya told France’s Auto Hebdo when asked about 22-year-old Bianchi’s chances.

"All of our test drivers were fortunate enough to get a (race) seat, so why should it be any different now?"