Manor-Marussia driver Jules Bianchi, who was in coma since his accident last year at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka has passed away. His family announce this sad news in an official statement following his death. During the rain-marred Japanese Grand Prix, Bianchi collided with a stationary crane that had been removing the derbies of Adrian Sutil’s Sauber, which had crashed at that same corner only a lap prior and Sutil had walked away from that accident with minimal injury. Bianchi, whose vehicle went into the rear of the tractor at full force, had been unresponsive to team radio or calls from race marshals.
The official statement read:
It is with deep sadness that the parents of Jules Bianchi, Philippe and Christine, his brother Tom and sister Melanie, 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.
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.