Driver profile: Charles Pic

Frenchman Charles Pic certainly has the pedigree of a man with a bright future.

Pic's stats and facts

  • Team: Virgin
  • Team-mate: Timo Glock
  • Nationality: French
  • Born: 15/02/90, Montelimar

His adviser is former Ligier, BAR and Toyota driver - and 1996 Monaco Grand Prix winner - Olivier Panis. And his godfather is Eric Bernard, another ex-F1 driver, who had an on-off career from 1989-94 with Larrousse, Ligier and Lotus.

Pic's arrival at Marussia is clearly related to sponsorship, but he proved his potential with three wins and four pole positions in the last two years in the GP2 feeder series, in which he finished fourth in 2011.

He faces an uphill struggle in his maiden F1 season, driving for a team with its own growing pains, and with limited testing before the start of the season.

But after a few races settling in, he has begun to look increasingly impressive - giving his much more experienced team-mate Timo Glock something to think about with his pace, particularly in qualifying.