F1 driver Bianchi dies after months in coma
Had suffered serious brain injuries after crashing in the rain-battered Japanese GP in October
NICE, FRANCE: French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi has died of critical head injuries sustained at last year’s Japanese Grand Prix, his family said in a statement on Saturday. He was 25.
Bianchi had been in a coma since the accident at Suzuka last October. He passed away at a hospital in Nice, near his parents’ home in the south of France.
“Jules fought right to the very end, as he always did, but today his battle came to an end,” said the Bianchi family.
“The pain we feel is immense and indescribable.”
Bianchi was the first driver since Brazilian triple world champion Ayrton Senna, at Italy’s Imola circuit in May 1994, to die from injuries sustained during a grand prix weekend.
“We are devastated to lose Jules after such a hard-fought battle,” his Manor F1 team Tweeted. “It was a privilege to have him race for our team.”
The Frenchman suffered severe head injuries when, in wet conditions and fading light, his Marussia slammed into a recovery tractor while it was attempting to remove Adrian Sutil’s crashed Sauber.
A working group of the sport’s gover ning body, the FIA, investigated the accident and found that as Bianchi went off track into the run-off area, he “applied both throttle and brake together, using both feet” and thus overriding the failsafe mechanism. His front wheels had also locked.
It also said that Bianchi “did not slow sufficiently to avoid losing control.”
The findings of the working group prompted F1 to alter its rules, allowing a ‘virtual safety car’ in which stewards can neutralise a race, forcing all cars to proceed into the pit.