Bianchi succumbs to Suzuka injuries

NEWS STORY
18/07/2015
Jules Bianchi has passed away, nine months after his horrific accident during the Japanese GP.
"Jules fought right to the very end, as he always did, but today his battle came to an end," said his family in a statement.
In succumbing to his injuries, the 25-year-old becomes the first driver to perish following an accident in an F1 car since the nightmare weekend of Imola in 1994 which witnessed the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna, though it should not be forgotten that Maria de Villota's death from a cardiac arrest in 2013 is widely believed to be linked to her F1 testing crash (also in a Marussia) at Duxford Aerodrome a year earlier.
Earlier this week, Jules father, Philippe Bianchi, admitted that he was becoming less optimistic about his son's chances of a full recovery.
"In general, progress needs to be made in the first six months," he told France Info. "It has been nine months now and Jules has still not woken up and there is no significant progress.
"As time goes by, I am less optimistic than I might have been two or three months after the accident when we could have hoped for better progress," he admitted. "There comes a point when you have to just keep your feet on the ground and realise the gravity of the situation."
Following his initial treatment in Japan after the accident last October, Jules was moved to a hospital in Nice in the south of France in order to be closer to his family. It was there that he passed away late last night.
"The pain we feel is immense and indescribable," said his family in its statement. "We wish to thank the medical staff at Nice's CHU who looked after him with love and dedication.
"We also thank the staff of the General Medical Center in the Mie Prefecture (Japan) who looked after Jules immediately after the accident, as well as all the other doctors who have been involved with his care over the past months.
"Furthermore, we thank Jules' colleagues, friends, fans and everyone who has demonstrated their affection for him over these past months, which gave us great strength and helped us deal with such difficult times. Listening to and reading the many messages made us realise just how much Jules had touched the hearts and minds of so many people all over the world.
"We would like to ask that our privacy is respected during this difficult time, while we try to come to terms with the loss of Jules."
Messages of sympathy and support from his racing colleagues soon followed, aware that they had lost not only a colleague and friend but that the sport has lost a major talent.
"We are devastated to lose Jules after such a hard-fought battle," said Manor Marussia on Twitter, the team revealing that it will issue a statement later today (Saturday). "It was a privilege to have him race for our team."
"#CiaoJules forever in Ferrari's hearts," added Ferrari, for whom the French youngster had tested and for whom, surely one day, he would have raced.
"Horrible news. Rest in peace mate. A great example of fight and courage for all of us. You will always be with us," wrote Carlos Sainz.
"I'll never forget you and the good times we had. Going to miss you bro," tweeted Daniel Ricciardo.
Valtteri Bottas: "Woke up to these very sad news.. RIP Jules. You will be never forgotten. My thoughts are with the family."
Jenson Button: "Last night we lost a truly great guy and a real fighter #RIPJules my sincerest Condolences to his family and friends."
Romain Grosjean: "Yesterday we lost one of the best guys and best drivers I've ever met. I'll miss you so much my friend"
Even though we were all aware that it was unlikely there would be happy ending, today's sad news leaves us speechless nonetheless.
Our thoughts, and those of our readers, go to Jules family, Manor Marussia, Ferrari, his fans and, not least, his colleagues, who, despite all our constant complaints about the quality of the racing put their lives on the line most weekends for our entertainment.
#ForzaJules

Source

A Statement from the Bianchi Family

Nice, France
Saturday 18 July 2015
02.45hrs France │ 01.45hrs UK

It is with deep sorrow that the parents of Jules Bianchi, Philippe and Christine, his brother Tom and his
Sister Mélanie, would like to announce the death of Jules died yesterday evening at the centre hospitalier universitaire
Nice, in France, where he had been admitted to the result of his accident on the circuit of suzuka, during the great
Price of Japan on 5 October 2014.

"Jules fought until the end, as it has always done, but yesterday, his battle has ended", Said
Family Bianchi. " we feel, she said, a penalty immense and indescribable. We want to thank
The medical staff of the chu nice, who has cared for with love and dedication.

" we also want to thank the staff of the general medical centre of mie in Japan who took
Care of Jules immediately after his accident, as well as all the other doctors who have
Involved in the fight that he has conducted over the past month.

" Similarly, we wish to thank the members of Jules, his friends, his supporters and all those who him
Have proved their affection during this period. They gave us the force necessary to resist
In these moments terrible. Listen, read their very many messages have shown us how
Jules had raised an affection so deep with so many people around the world.

" we ask you to respect our privacy during these very difficult hours, during which
We are trying to cope with the loss of Jules.

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This is the saddest day in F1 for me since the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994.
It's not a surprise that he passed away, it was always a case of when, not if. This is also the first death in F1 directly related to F1 in over 20 years. There has been so much done for the improvement of safety in the sport, even since after Bianchi's accident they have changed the cockpit and helmets and brought in a "virtual safety car".

For me it never was a case of pointing fingers, asking what can we do to make the sport safer. Not one of you who watches a race always have that faint glimmer of a hope to see an accident - since accidents in F1 can be spectacular - look at Button and Alonso at the previous race in Silverstone.

For me, I still have a lot of mixed feelings and I am still making sense of a feeling of loss, we lost an amazing driver, but an even more amazing person last year at Suzuka. Even though I mourn his loss this weekend, in my heart and head we lost Jules on the track in October last year. There was just no way he would have survived it, no matter what went wrong at the track that day. It was his fault for making a mistake, it was the organizers fault for not red flagging the race or bringing out the safety car whilst removing Adrian Sutil's car.

So for now I just sit here contemplating a world where F1 still impacts my life, but suddenly I also feel a bit more distant towards it. In a way I have lost faith in a lot of what F1 stands for these days, and the sport although still important to me, just feels a tad silly and political and not about what F1 stood for back when I was growing up.

Men, strapped in cars that are piloted by men, not electronics, that achieve a grace and beauty dancing on the race track, fighting with competitors. That magic moment when you hear the whine of the motors starting up for a warm up lap, or the whine as they flew past on straights or flowing through corners and chicanes. For me F1 was the epitome of greatness,not so much anymore, having grown up with the epic drivers such as Prost, Senna, Berger, Hill, Hakkinen, Kubica, Raikkonen,Schumacher.

Bianchi – A Future Fate Removed
Thomas Maher July 20, 2015

Jules Bianchi’s funeral is set to be held in Nice on Tuesday and will cast a shadow over the remainder of the 2015 season – a shadow that hasn’t been seen in 20+ years.For those of you who may be in the south of France this week, Jules Bianchi’s funeral arrangements have been announced as being held in the Saint Reparate Cathedral in Nice on Tuesday at 10am. The turnout will be huge, and F1 is sure to be well represented by the drivers and team members from up and down the pitlane. It’s difficult to gauge how welcome the FIA & FOM might be, but that’s not a topic for this article. The media will be there in their droves and hopefully will show the same respect and class that the Bianchi family have shown them throughout their ordeal. It has been a long and tortuous road for the Bianchis, a road that ultimately has led them to the most crushing of heartbreaks – albeit maybe not an entirely unexpected one.

Jules’ name, in years to come, will become uttered in the same sentence as some names from Grand Prix racing that have become synonymous with talent that was struck down. Think back to the mid-80s when Stefan Bellof was killed in a sportscar race at Spa. Bellof had shown a spark akin to, if not exceeding, fellow rookie Ayrton Senna in 1984 and looked set to become one of the main names in F1 until his untimely demise. Francois Cevert & Roger Williamson were both men to fall in 1973; Cevert in a vicious crash at Watkins Glen in the final race alongside Jackie Stewart. Cevert had been groomed by Tyrrell and mentored by Stewart to replace the Scottish driver as Tyrrell team leader upon Jackie’s retirement. Instead of reaping the benefits of Stewart’s planned stepping down, Cevert ended up merely hastening Jackie’s career ending. There were no such grandiose arrangements in place for Williamson – the Englishman struck down in his second F1 race after a strong pre-F1 career. Tony Brise, the protege of Graham Hill, died just 10 races into his career; dying in the same plane crash that claimed the former Champion and the lives of several of the Embassy Hill racing team.

“Jules was one of us, a member of the Ferrari family.” says a quote from Luca Di Montezemelo in Italian media this week. “He was the future of Ferrari as our collaboration with Raikkonen would come to an end. He was a first class man – shy, prompt, polite, very attached to Ferrari. He promised a bright future, but fate removed it. Jules leaves a huge void.”

Source

I think this is so far the best article written about what has happened.

Statements like these are a double edged sword. On one hand, announcing what could have and should have been merely makes Jules’ death all the more difficult to fathom. On the other, such a public acknowledgement of what Jules actually had managed to achieve in his short time should make his family very proud. He had guaranteed himself a bright future with F1’s most talismanic team, but fate removed it.

There’s been calls on social media for a tribute to be paid to Jules by removing his No. 17 from use as a mark of respect but, with driver number selections still in their infancy, this isn’t likely to come about. It’s worth remembering that Jules’ No. 17 was actually selected for him as his three nominated numbers were all selected by drivers ahead of him in the queue at the time. His original choice of No. 7 was taken by Kimi Raikkonen. No. 27 was taken by Nico Hulkenberg, while No. 77 was assigned to Valtteri Bottas. Ironically, Hulkenberg & Bottas are now the two frontrunners to replace Raikkonen – the seat Jules should have been inheriting.

“It is at times like this that we are brutally reminded of how dangerous racing still remains.” the GPDA announced after the news of Jules’ death broke. “Despite considerable improvements, we, the Grand Prix drivers, owe it to the racing community, to the lost ones and to Jules, his family and friends, to never relent in improving safety.”

Virtual Safety Car aside, there hasn’t been a huge change in that regard. Realistically, what can be done? Fans complain about neutered circuits and asphalt run-off areas, but the thing about gravel traps is that cars get beached in them. Recovery vehicles are thus required to remove them. An already crashed car needs a recovery vehicle. This is far from ideal but, outside of stopping the race, what’s a better solution? According to the FIA’s crash investigation findings published last December, Jules ‘did not slow sufficiently to avoid losing control’ and that ‘if drivers adhere to the requirements of double yellow flags, then neither competitors nor officials should be put in immediate or physical danger.’ Pretty damning stuff that points the finger firmly at Jules being at fault for his own crash. However, a safety system that relies on the drivers not trying to find a competitive advantage is inherently flawed. An arbitrary ‘everyone slow down’ wasn’t enough, and Jules has paid the price for that failing. If it hadn’t been him, it would have been someone else. The Virtual Safety Car has taken speed moderation out of the driver’s hands. By removing the potential for a competitive advantage, the risk is removed.

The Bianchi family bury a son and a brother on Tuesday, the man who succeeds Ayrton Senna as Formula 1’s most recent victim. They have opened up the ceremony to those who have been behind them every step of the way since October 5 2014 – a gesture that shows the regard in which Phillippe, Christine, Tom & Melanie hold their son’s fans. The way the family have handled every moment of their ordeal has been nothing short of impeccable and thoughtful – dignified and restrained, yet always forthcoming with information about how Jules was doing. No good has come from Jules’ passing but at least their purgatory of suffering has reached its conclusion.



It’s just over a year since Jules topped the times for Ferrari in Silverstone testing when he stepped in to replace Kimi Raikkonen. A year since Jules underlined his abilities and his intentions, and a year since he donned the Prancing Horse overalls for what would be the final time. Since then, his team have survived administration and a rebrand (thanks to his 2 points at Monaco 2014), his teammate has scored his first Indylights win (dedicating the win to Jules), while Ferrari have begun the process of finding a different replacement for Raikkonen. Time will march on without Jules; his story unfortunately reaching a premature and unplanned end. If you are in a position to, attend his funeral on Tuesday. Show your support to a family that motor racing, not for the first time, has been cruel to. Shed a tear for the driver, the racer, the son, the brother, the man who made such an indelible mark on those around him. Rest in Peace Jules.