Biography

After a successful career in karts, which included winning the 2005 Asia-Pacific Championship (Formula A) and the 2006 French Championship (Formula A 100 cc), not to mention finishing runner up in World Cup and third in the Italian Championship, Jules made the switch to single-seaters in 2007, winning the French Formula Renault 2.0 Championship at the first attempt.

That same season, the Nice born driver also contested three rounds of the Formula Renault 2.0 Europcup, scoring one pole and one fastest lap.

The following season he moved up to the Formula Three Euroseries with ART Grand Prix, ultimately finishing third in the championship courtesy of two wins and seven podiums. That same season, the French youngster finished 9th in Macau but won the prestigious F3 Masters event at Zolder.

He remained in the Formula Three Euroseries in 2009, this time securing the title win with nine wins and twelve podiums. Finishing tenth in Macau he also scored a fourth in the F3 Masters event at Zandvoort.

The youngster rounded of a perfect year with a test with Ferrari at Jerez, his performance good enough to secure him a place with the Ferrari Driver Academy. Indeed, earlier in the year, following Felipe Massa's accident at the Hungaroring, young Jules was mentioned as a possible replacement for the Brazilian, a role subsequently filled by Luca Badoer and then Giancarlo Fisichella.

For 2010 he made the obvious move up to GP2, remaining with ART Grand Prix, the team founded by the man who now managed him, Nicolas Todt.

Having got the season underway by contesting three rounds of the GP2 Asia series, Jules was one of the hot favourites for the main series. While there were no wins, there were podium finishes in Monaco, Valencia and Silverstone. However, a first lap crash in Hungary looked to have brought his season to an early end, the French youngster sustaining a a fractured second lumbar vertebra.

Thankfully, Jules was fully recovered in time for the next race almost a month later, with a strong weekend in Monza helping him secure third place in the championship.

In November 2010, Jules was officially confirmed as Ferrari's test and reserve driver for 2011. He subsequently took part in the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi, finishing fifth quickest over the course of the two days.

For 2011 he remained in GP2 with ART where he was partnered by 2010 GP3 Series champion Esteban Gutierrez.

In the decimated GP2 Asia series, though he starred in the Feature Race of the opening round of the GP2 Asia Series at Yas Marina, he lost his fourth place in the Sprint Race when the stewards ruled he had not "respected yellow flags" during the event. Still looking good for the title, his hopes ended when he was the innocent victim of a mistake by Fairuz Fauzy at the start of the Sprint Race at Imola, consequently he finished runner-up.

In the main series, following a difficult start to the season when he only scored points in two of first eight races, a string of good results, beginning with a win in the Feature Race at Silverstone, saw Jules finish third behind Romain Grosjean and Luca Filippi.

In September 2011, Jules tested for Ferrari as part of the Ferrari Driver Academy along with fellow academy member and Sauber driver Sergio Perez. He also drove all three days of the Young Driver Test at Yas Marina for Ferrari, posting the second best time overall, albeit 1.362s off Jean-Eric Vergne's best.

While it was widely expected that he would be retained by Ferrari for 2012, on 27 January it was revealed that Jules would be joining Force India as its reserve driver.