Jules Bianchi has Passed Away

From Jules Bianchi's fan page on Facebook...

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.”

RIP Jules :'(

Goodbye, Jules.

Godspeed, Jules.

Au revoir, Jules.

Rest In Peace Jules. No more pain where you are.

It is moving to see all of the support that Jules Bianchi has received throughout the world of racing in wishing him strength and recovery.

Rest In Peace, Jules.

It's never good to see a death happen in any aspect of racing.
Rest in Peace Jules Bianchi, Formula 1 won't forget about you any time soon.

RIP Bianchi.

The thing that comes to mind... 20 years (considering the time the accident happened).  20 years F1 went between fatal accidents that occurred under their watch.  There used to be a time where a year going by in F1 with no fatal accidents under their watch was a rarity, not the norm.  Thing that doesn't make this accident as palatable (not that it should in the first place) was that this accident could have been prevented, or at least more easily avoided.  It wasn't like Senna where, while track and car design could be argued, that it was an unfortunate accident, and one that could be used to learn and improve safety on car and track, but an accident where maybe erring on the side of caution could have been more easily been done, like throwing a safety car out on the track with a crane out to pick up a car, or Bianchi maybe even erring on the side of caution (especially considering he was driving a Marussia, not necessarily a car that is going to get him in the points unless extreme attrition happened).  It seems like this accident should have never happened, especially with the safety consciousness that not only F1, but motorsports in general takes today.

Even when time passed on, i feel like everyone was hoping for that miracle akin to the scenario that we saw happen with Ernie Irvan in Nascar when he suffered a very similar injury to Jules Bianchi and would come back to race around a year later...But sadly it just wasn't the case. It's sad to see this happen in the sport we love, it always hurts no matter if it comes out of the blue or when we are already fearing the worst in a situation

Jules Bianchi was a man who was potentially a few years off becoming a household name in Formula One, One of the popular rumors that floated around during the past couple years in F1 was Bianchi being possibly tied to a future Ferrari seat once Kimi Raikkonen decided to call it a career, and that opportunity might have opened the world and more for him, Bianchi also showed us that he definitely had the speed to potentially be that future name in the sport, he showed speed in the Marussia car despite that team famously being known for being one of the struggling backmarker teams in Formula...At Monaco in 2014 he pulled the unthinkable and scored points with the Marussia car which for that team is their equivalent of winning the Monaco Grand Prix itself. It may have been a small victory in the scheme of things but it showed that Jules Bianchi might of been able to have star power to win some races, maybe even championship down the road, But sadly we're left to wonder what could've been if he was given more time in this world.

RIP Jules Bianchi, your star is bright in our hearts.

France invented Grand Prix racing, but in the Formula 1 version of it, they've only had one great driver - Alain Prost. Sure, they've had some drivers who won multiple races, but outside of Prost, none of those drivers would be considered great. Francois Cevert died before reaching his potential, and now, sadly, so has Jules. Jules should've been the man to bring France back to prominence in F1. Unfortunately, we'll never know what he could've done now.

Farewell, Jules. Gone too soon.

A harsh and tragic reminder that bad things can happen in motorsports
R.I.P Jules Bianchi

Though I don't have many memories of Formula One, Jules at Monaco 2014 will forever be my greatest memory.

Rest easy Jules, you will be missed.

Heartbreaking news, taken far too soon. Legend never dies, RIP Jules you will be deeply missed by the motorsport community.

Commence feels.

Rest In Peace Jules. Racing lost a bright rising star.

He could've been an F1 great, up there with Senna, Prost, and Schumacher. He scored points in a Marussia, at Monaco. But he's in a better place now.

RIP, definitely was going to be one of the brightest careers in modern Formula 1, such a shame it had to end before it could really begin

navycook75 wrote:Though I don't have many memories of Formula One, Jules at Monaco 2014 will forever be my greatest memory.

That is my favorite as well of him.

So sad for his friends and family. Jules had a lot in him. Au revoir, JB.

It's hard for me to say I'm surprised by this news, as sad as it is to hear. I think I saw a statistic somehwere that said less than 10% of patients with diffuse axonal injuries make enough of a recovery to come out of their coma. I distinctly remember the sinking feeling in my stomach when the nature of his injury was announced, because I knew that one day this news would come. It's such a terrible shame it happened to such a great person, or anyone for that matter.

Hopefully some meaningful changes are made in the name of safety. I understand they have implemented a "virtual" safety car procedure, but I wonder if maybe nascar style safety car periods should be used when workers or equipment are on track (i.e. automatic full course caution)

Terrible shame, and for such a young competitor. Truly gone too soon.

R.I.P. Jules

While we're on the subject, I've just had a personal thought that I'd like to share. Considering the number #17 was Jules Bianchi's dedicated number that he ran last season, anyone here who will watch the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend would have a lap of silence on Lap 17 of the race in honour of Jules. Anyone agree?

And also, the FIA Will retire Jules Bianchi's number #17 as a mark of respect for him and his family.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/fia-to-retire-jules-bianchis-number

R.I.P Goodbye Jules (Even Though I'm A Rally Fan i still think this is Sad Although Colin mcrae's Death Was quite sad too)

This is something I've drawn as tribute to Jules Bianchi.



This drawing represents what should have become Jules Bianchi's career. He was going to go to Ferrari in 2016, and he was going to be a race winner. Unfortunately, he was taken from us all too soon. R.I.P. Jules Bianchi.

(OOC: I have to say it: The car itself in this image was traced off another photograph, as were several of the logos. Why? Because I can't be bothered to draw a Formula One car free-handed. Stock cars I can manage, but F1 cars? Not happening.)

kensethfan wrote:This is something I've drawn as tribute to Jules Bianchi.



This drawing represents what should have become Jules Bianchi's career. He was going to go to Ferrari in 2016, and he was going to be a race winner. Unfortunately, he was taken from us all too soon. R.I.P. Jules Bianchi.

(OOC: I have to say it: The car itself in this image was traced off another photograph, as were several of the logos. Why? Because I can't be bothered to draw a Formula One car free-handed. Stock cars I can manage, but F1 cars? Not happening.)

Looks damn good, Contey. I'm impressed. A fine tribute to a man who had a bright future.

pennst24 wrote:

kensethfan wrote:This is something I've drawn as tribute to Jules Bianchi.



This drawing represents what should have become Jules Bianchi's career. He was going to go to Ferrari in 2016, and he was going to be a race winner. Unfortunately, he was taken from us all too soon. R.I.P. Jules Bianchi.

(OOC: I have to say it: The car itself in this image was traced off another photograph, as were several of the logos. Why? Because I can't be bothered to draw a Formula One car free-handed. Stock cars I can manage, but F1 cars? Not happening.)

Looks damn good, Contey. I'm impressed. A fine tribute to a man who had a bright future.

My thoughts, as well. Traced or not, it's an impressive and fitting work.

They laid Jules to rest today in his hometown of Nice, France.

Looking from the pictures from the funeral, I haven't cried like this in seven years.