RIP Jules Bianchi a decade on

A decade has already passed since the tragic tale of Formula 1’s last fatality, Jules Bianchi.

On July 17 2015, Bianchi (25) was pronounced dead 285 days after his horrific accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

On a soaked Suzuka circuit, the popular French driver lost control of his Marussia at Turn 7 under double waved yellows and horrifically slid head-on into a wheel loader that was removing the Sauber of Adrian Sutil.

Bianchi was left unconscious from the impact, and after being treated trackside and at the medical centre, he was sent to the nearest hospital.

Across hospitals in Japan and France, Bianchi remained unconscious in critical condition, having been placed in an induced coma through 2015 until he passed away at just 25.

Being the first F1 death since Ayrton Senna in 1994, the news shook the motorsport world with his #17 being retired and the entire 2015 grid paying tribute at the following Hungarian Grand Prix.

Having won Formula 3 Euro and finished third in GP2, Bianchi had plenty of runs on the board before he arrived at the pinnacle of motorsport in 2013.

Despite racing for backmarker Marussia, the Frenchman still shone, beating his British teammate Max Chilton in 14 of the 19 races.

This remained a theme in 2014 when Bianchi gave Marussia its one and only points finish from 74 attempts on the daunting streets of Monte Carlo.

Many thought it would be the start of a promising and flourishing career, having been hailed as the “best backmarker since Mark Webber” only to be cut short tragically just nine races later.

Being a Ferrari protégé, many believed Bianchi would have ended up at Sauber in 2015, which would have offered him a faster platform to unleash his talent.

In fact, he was so highly thought of that Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo stated the boy from Nice would have ended up replacing Kimi Raikkonen at the famous red team – the seat that ended up going to Bianchi’s close friend Charles Leclerc in 2019.

Following Bianchi’s tragic death, the FIA worked hard to introduce greater driver head protection, which led to the Halo becoming mandatory in 2018.

It has already saved lives, most notably helping Romain Grosjean miraculously emerge from his horrific fireball at Bahrain in 2020 and Leclerc avoid being struck by a flying Fernando Alonso at Spa in 2018.

This is just two of many examples as Bianchi’s legacy will never be forgotten on and off the track.

Below is the full feature Auto Action’s Dan Knutson wrote on Bianchi just three races into his career following the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix.

Jules Bianchi during his final F1 race at Japan in 2014. Image: Charles Coates/LAT Photographic

Even Bianchi has been a bit shocked on how quickly he has settled in with a new team and in the role of an F1 driver.

“It is a bit of a surprise for me because even if I have a bit of experience with Ferrari and Force India, to be a race driver is totally different, Bianchi says in an exclusive interview with Auto Action.

“And it’s something new which, for the moment, is going very well. I am happy in the team and improving all the time. So I still need to keep pushing like this.”

When will he be up to 100 percent?

“It is difficult to say” he replies, “but we are close to the maximum potential now. But even when you get to the maximum you still have to improve.

I feel confident in the car, and I think in Barcelona or even Bahrain we will be fully ready.

We were already ready for the season, but from my side, for my confidence in the car, I will be a full 100 percent soon.

Bianchi’s personal target is to finish every race this season. But is that a little overly ambitious?

“Know that’s going to be a difficult thing to achieve, but why not?” he says.

“For the team the target is to finish in front of Caterham. It would be good for us to come 10th in the championship. People around us are talking about scoring points, but we still have to be realistic and think that we need more performance.

We are getting closer to the midfield but we are still missing a bit, and that is why we have to keep pushing and see what we can do.”

Bianchi and Marussia spanked Caterham in the first three races. Whether that continues after Caterham brings a majorly updated car to the Spanish Grand Prix remains to be seen.

If Bianchi had landed the Force India ride he would be in a position to score points right now.

How frustrating was it to get so close to racing for a midfield team?

“For sure with Force India I would be racing for points” he acknowledges. “But it is still the same target for me: when you are in F1 you want to achieve a good result.

“Even if we know that for the moment we can’t get into the points without a crazy race, the target is still trying for points, do well at Marussia, try to do my best, and get good experience.”

Like Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso, who made their debuts with Minardi, and Daniel Ricciardo, who started with HRT, an advantage for Bianchi is that Marussia is out of the spotlight.

“It is less pressure, but we are still in F1, so there is still a lot of pressure even if it is something different to manage,” he says.

“The team is good and is here to fight, and you can’t be here without pressure. You always have pressure in F1, so I don’t think it will be a massive difference with another team.”

Speaking of pressure, some people say that he made mistakes under pressure in GP2 in 2010 and 2011, as well as in the Formula Renault 3.5 series in 2012.

“I did make some mistakes,” he agrees, “but every driver makes mistakes – even the best ones in the world. In the past some good drivers – world champions – made mistakes, so it is something that is part of the job. You cannot be 100 percent secure to not do any mistakes all the time.

“Think I did well in the previous series even if, as you say, I did some small errors. But I finished third in GP2 in my second year and second in the World Series, so I was always in the top-three, which I don’t think is a bad thing.?

On the other hand, a lot of people are saying good things about Bianchi this year; that he has a lot of potential and is the best of the five rookies.

“It is always nice to hear that,” he says, “but then know that I have to keep pushing like this because if I go down, people will say that ‘maybe he was not ready. It is easy in F1 to be up and then down.

“So I will try to do my best to stay in this level and not to do any mistakes, even if I know it is going to be difficult for 19 races.”

Would he be ready to move up to Ferrari next year?

“It is not for my side to judge,” Bianchi replies. “I just want to do the best job here, and then other people will decide for me.”

Bianchi wouldn’t mind another learning year with Marussia before moving up to another team.

“I would be comfortable to be with Marussia again,” he says. “It is a really good team to work with. We are improving all the time. We have good potential” Can he be world champion someday?

“That is a difficult one, he says. “We are all here to race and win, but in the meantime, it is difficult to say.

“Of course, I want to be world champion. Who doesn’t want a world championship in F1? But I will just try to work as much as I can and try to improve myself.

“Everything happens for a reason; I don’t decide that?”

But surely he has a basic belief that he is a very good driver and championship material?

“I know that I am doing a good job at the moment,” he concedes, “but I want to keep my feet on the ground and not think that I am the best. I am not like that. I just want to take it step by step and see what will happen.”

What is going to happen, based on what we’ve seen so far, is that Bianchi has the talent to move step by step up the F1 ladder. He’s showing the flair he had in Formula 3 and not making the types of mistakes he made in GP2. He can become a race winner in F1.

As for him becoming champion, it’s too early to tell.

But this guy is something special.

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