R.I.P. Jules Bianchi

[Jenya B]

Good bye , my friend , good bye



A Statement from the Bianchi Family



Nice, France
Saturday 18 July 2015
02.45hrs France │ 01.45hrs UK
It is with deep sadness that the parents of Jules Bianchi, Philippe and Christine, his brother Tom and sister Mélanie, wish to make it known that Jules passed away last night at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) in Nice, (France) where he was admitted following the accident of 5th October 2014 at Suzuka Circuit during the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix.
“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. 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.”

[AW335TT]

RIP, I actually googled him yesterday to see if there were any updates.

[E90SLAM]

RIP...

Family statement: Jules Bianchi dies at the age of 25

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/fa...-the-age-of-25

The family of Jules Bianchi has released a statement, confirming the tragic passing of the 25-year-old Frenchman.

"It is with deep sadness that the parents of Jules Bianchi, Philippe and Christine, his brother Tom and sister Mélanie, wish to make it known that Jules passed away last night at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) in Nice, (France) where he was admitted following the accident of 5th October 2014 at Suzuka Circuit during the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix.

“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. 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.”

On October 5th, 2014, Bianchi spun off track in wet conditions during the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, striking a tractor crane that was retrieving the stricken Sauber of Adrian Sutil. In the impact, the left side air-intake was shaved completely off and the entire rear of the car was destroyed.

Bianchi's head made contact with the back of the machine, causing him to suffer a diffuse axonal injury - a very serious type of traumatic brain injury. Bianchi has since been in a comatose state, hospitalized since the day of his accident and until the day of his passing.

Motorsport.com joins the rest of the Formula 1 community in extending our most sincere prayers and deepest condolences to the family and friends of Jules.

[E90SLAM]

Manor on Bianchi passing: "We are devastated"

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ma...astated-616092

Both Jules Bianchi's former team and teammate have reacted to the tragic news of his passing on social media.

Jules Bianchi's 2014 team (Marussia - now Manor) and teammate Max Chilton team were among the first to express their condolences following the news of the French racer's tragic death.

Bianchi made all 34 of his Formula 1 starts with the team, scoring their first and only points in stunning fashion with a ninth-place finish (was eighth before time penalty) in the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix.

[Kwando]

RIP

[1MOREMOD]

So first loss of life in f1 since senna?

[ianbiz]

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

So first loss of life in f1 since senna?

Yup. Its sad, but good to see how far they have come in terms of safety. There have been tons of big crashes too since then.

[WinterSoldier]

R.I.P.

[sismy]

R.I.P.

[NickyC]

Horrible, I had a feeling this was going to be the ultimate outcome.

Prayers and best wishes for the family he's left behind. What a terrible ordeal they've had to endure over this past year, hopefully this will bring some closure and they can begin to heal.

Such a sad story all the way around.

[JuzMe]

R.I.P.

[MrPrena]

Very tragic. Yup, first loss since 94 A. Senna's.

This could've been just walk out of the car to the pit. Darn crane being there...

[M_Six]

Very sad, but not unexpected. No real chance of recovery with a head injury like that. At least he didn't linger for years. That's horrible for the family. A situation for which I can personally attest.

I fear Michael's family is resigned to that fate now. So tragic.

[David70]

Really sorry to see all of this happen.

F1 has become far safer but there is still work to be done.

[E90SLAM]

FIA retires car number 17 in honour of Bianchi

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/07/2...ur-of-bianchi/

Car number 17 will be retired from use by Formula One drivers as a mark of respect for Jules Bianchi, this FIA has announced.

“Jean Todt, President of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) announced that the car number 17 will be retired from the FIA Formula One world championship in honour of Jules Bianchi,” said a statement released by the sport’s governing body.

“As F1 car numbers are now personally chosen by each driver, the FIA believes it to be an appropriate gesture to retire Jules Bianchi’s number 17.”

“As a result, this number can no longer be used for a car competing in the FIA Formula One world championship.”

Bianchi adopted number 17 in 2014 when drivers were first given the choice of which number they preferred to use. He used it for 15 races that year.

However 17 was not Bianchi’s first choice of race number. He originally expressed a preference for numbers 7, 27 or 77 but as these had already been chosen – by Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas respectively – he later selected number 17.

[M3 Esq]

This was totally avoidable. Inexplicable that there was a crane inside of the guardrail under a green flag, especially where another car had just gone off in the same spot! Horrible accident. RIP.