Jules Bianchi, godfather of Monegasque racing driver Charles Leclerc
Overview
Bianchi began his racing career at the age of 10 by taking part in the gokar championship in France and achieved some early successes, including winning the French Junior Championship and coming second in the European Junior Championship in 2004. Subsequently, he participated in various junior championship events such as Formula 3 Euro Series, GP2 Series and Formula Renault 3.5. In 2009, Bianchi became the first driver to join the Ferrari Drivers Academy, a driver development program of the Scuderia Ferrari team that aims to educate a young driver to later take part in the F1 event.
Bianchi entered F1 as a free practice driver for the Force India team for nine races in the 2012 season. In the 2013 season, he made his official race debut at the Australian Grand Prix with the Marussia team, finishing the race in 15th position. During the season, Bianchi scored no points and finished 19th in the final drivers' championship standings. His best finish was 13th place at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Marussia team retained Bianchi for the 2014 season. At the Monaco Grand Prix race, Bianchi managed to finish ninth, and at the same time recorded the first points for both himself and the Marussia team.
At the Japanese Grand Prix held on October 5, 2014 at the Suzuka Circuit, Bianchi lost control of his race car in very wet track conditions before colliding with a trackside crane. He suffered diffuse axonal injuries as a result of the incident. He subsequently underwent a series of surgeries and fell into a coma, until his death on July 17, 2015. Bianchi's death was the first accidental death in an F1 race for the past 20 years, following the fatal crash of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger that occurred at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Until 2023, Bianchi's accident will be the latest fatal crash to occur in F1 racing.
