Charles Pic would have signed a contract with Virgin!

Olivier Panis, former F1 driver and now a driver manager, has been working hard for several months to bring a French driver back to Formula 1. According to the newspaper L’Equipe, his efforts have paid off as the French daily newspaper claims that Pic will be a regular driver alongside Timo Glock next season. Thanks to the support of his manager and the Lagardère group, Charles Pic would thus take part in the 2012 Formula 1 season with Marussia GP.

The 21-year-old from Drôme has been competing in the GP2 Series for two years. He has made an impression three times and notably won a race in Monaco. With a 4th place finish this season in the final standings of the F1’s antechamber, he has proved convincing behind the wheel of a single-seater from the Addax team.

Charles Pic would therefore replace Jérôme d’Ambrosio in 2012 but the team would wait until the Brazilian Grand Prix before officially announcing the engagement of the French driver. At this time, neither the team nor the driver’s entourage has made any comments regarding this information.

Note that no French driver has raced in Formula 1 since Romain Grosjean in 2009. The Frenchman had competed in seven races for the Renault team following the suspension of Nelson Piquet Jr. A few months earlier, in 2008, Sébastien Bourdais had a lackluster first half of the season driving for Toro Rosso.

Charles Pic is not the only Frenchman to have excelled in motorsport recently. With 3 out of the top 4 positions in the GP2 Series championship occupied by French drivers, France has a strong potential to see other drivers in Formula 1 as early as next year. Romain Grosjean and Jules Bianchi, respectively 1st and 3rd in the championship in 2011, will notably test with Lotus-Renault GP and Ferrari. Jean-Eric Vergne, who finished second in the World Series by Renault, will have a test session with Red Bull Racing during the rookies days.