The funeral of Jules Bianchi took place today in his hometown of Nice, France. The popular 25-year-old was laid to rest after he passed away on Saturday morning following injuries he sustained in his crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.
Thousands turned up outside the Sainte Reparate Cathedral in Nice to say their goodbyes to one of Formula One’s most popular figures. Many of the 2015 grid were present, from Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, to Marcus Ericsson, Jenson Button and Felipe Massa. The latter was one of the first to arrive at the Mie General hospital in Japan after Bianchi’s horrific accident.
The Frenchman slid off track in adverse weather conditions at Suzuka and his car collided with a recovery vehicle picking up Adrian Sutil’s Sauber, which had went off in the same place only a lap before.
Massa, Romain Grosjean and Sebastian Vettel were all pall-bearers as fans and residents of the town gathered outside and listened to the service on PA speakers. There were some moments of spontaneous applause from the congregation outside throughout, which meant there was a poignant balance of emotion and joy to celebrate Bianchi’s all too short life.
Ferrari Drive
He would have turned 26 in August, and in the last few days it’s been revealed by former Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemelo that Bianchi was being lined up to replace Kimi Raikkonen when his deal expires at the end of this season. A true testament to how highly the Scuderia regarded him.
Tributes have as expected been pouring in, with the FIA announcing on Monday that they are to retire the car number 17 in honour of Bianchi, the number he used when he scored Marussia's only points to date at Monaco, a mere 20 miles down the road from where the service to remember the Frenchman was being held.
Tributes
The Hungarian Grand Prix, which takes place this weekend, will also see Jules commemorated in some way which is not revealed yet, but expectedly a minute’s silence is first and foremost.
Many of his countrymen within the F1 community attended the service, such as former driver Jean-Eric Vergne, four time world champion Alain Prost and FIA president Jean Todt was also said to be there, along with his son and Bianchi’s manager Nicolas.
The 25-year-old was a member of Ferrari’s driver academy, having joined in 2009, and was destined for big things in F1, with many saying he’d be a race winner and potentially a world champion of the future.
Bianchi is the first driver to die from racing injuries since Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, and has yet again brought up the argument of safety in Formula One, which is ever evolving in terms of keeping drivers safe. Bianchi had been in a coma since the horrific incident last season, and will be sorely missed by everyone within motorsport at this sad, sad time.