Jules Bianchi 'ready' if Fernando Alonso leaves Ferrari F1 team

With uncertainty surrounding the future of Fernando Alonso at Ferrari, there is a chance that the Spaniard may not see out his current contract at the team.

Such a move would open up a seat at Ferrari alongside Kimi Raikkonen and, with most big name stars under contract elsewhere, Marussia racer Bianchi would be an obvious contender as he is part of the team's young driver programme.

Speaking ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Bianchi said that moving to Ferrari was "logical" for him, after two years of learning about the demands of F1 with Marussia.

"Of course I feel ready," explained the Frenchman. "I have been working on that since I joined the [Ferrari] academy in 2009.

"Now I have done nearly two seasons in F1. I have good experience and feel ready for that.

"It looks like the logical step for me if something happens.

"At the moment both drivers have a contract, but if there is an opportunity it will be good for me and I feel good."

VETTEL DOWNPLAYS FRESH FERRARI TALK

While Sebastian Vettel is understood to be a target for Ferrari in the long term, the German moved to play down ongoing rumours singling him out as a potential Alonso replacement.

"I think there has always been rumours in the last couple of years, especially in this part of the season," he said.

"It [the driver market situation] is probably more for Jenson [Button]. He has 17 [rumoured] team-mates for next year - I was one a couple of weeks ago and maybe I will be next week again!

"It is not in my head. In Singapore we made some progress and I hope to carry that momentum in to this weekend, and that is where the focus lies."