Jules Bianchi succumbs to Suzuka crash injuries

Former Marussia F1 driver Jules Bianchi has died, nine months after sustaining severe head injuries during an accident at Japan’s Suzuka Circuit.

Bianchi lost control of his car, which careened off a wet track at last year’s Japanese Grand Prix, hitting a recovery truck that had been deployed to recover Adrian Sutil’s stricken car. The race was stopped immediately and Bianchi flown to a nearby hospital. The Frenchman was later sent to his hometown in Nice to undergo further treatment and rehabilitation.

The news of his death was announced by Bianchi’s family in a statement earlier today.

"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. 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.”

Bianchi graduated to Formula 1 with Marussia (now Manor) in 2013 after finishing runner-up in the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 championship. Prior to that, he won the Euro Formula 3 series on his second attempt and finished third in GP2 - F1’s official feeder series.

The Frenchman was a part of Ferrari’s young driver programme and was touted to be a future driver for the Scuderia. He scored Marussia’s first F1 points with a ninth place finish at last year’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Bianchi is the first driver to die due to injuries sustained in a Formula 1 race since Ayrton Senna tragically passed away at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.