Jules Lucien Andre Bianchi was a French motor racing driver who drove for the Marussia F1 Team in Formula One.
54 Facts About Jules Bianchi
2.
Jules Bianchi entered Formula One as a practice driver in 2012 for Sahara Force India.
3.
On 5 October 2014, during the Japanese Grand Prix, Jules Bianchi lost control of his Marussia in very wet conditions and collided with a recovery vehicle, suffering a diffuse axonal injury.
4.
Jules Bianchi underwent emergency surgery and was placed into an induced coma, and remained comatose until his death on 17 July 2015.
5.
Jules Bianchi's death was the first to result from an on-track incident in Formula One in over 20 years, after Ayrton Senna's fatal accident at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
6.
Jules Bianchi was born in Nice, France, to Philippe and Christine Bianchi.
7.
Jules Bianchi had two siblings, brother Tom and sister Melanie, and had been the godfather of current Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
8.
Jules Bianchi was the grandson of Mauro Jules Bianchi, who competed in GT racing during the 1960s and three non-championship Formula One Grands Prix in 1961.
9.
Jules Bianchi was the grandnephew of Lucien, who competed in 19 Formula One Grands Prix between 1959 and 1968 and won the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, before dying during Le Mans testing the following year.
10.
Since age 17, Jules Bianchi was professionally managed by Nicolas Todt.
11.
In 2007, Jules Bianchi left karting and raced in French Formula Renault 2.0 for SG Formula, where he finished as champion with five wins.
12.
Jules Bianchi competed in the Formula Renault Eurocup where he had one pole position and one fastest lap in three races.
13.
In late 2007, Jules Bianchi signed with ART Grand Prix to compete in the Formula 3 Euro Series.
14.
In 2008 Jules Bianchi won the Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder, and finished third in the 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series season.
15.
Jules Bianchi continued in the F3 Euroseries in 2009, leading ART's line-up along with rookie team-mates Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Gutierrez and Adrien Tambay.
16.
Jules Bianchi then added a ninth win at the final round at Hockenheim.
17.
Jules Bianchi drove in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series at Monaco, after SG Formula acquired the cars formerly run by Kurt Mollekens.
18.
Jules Bianchi drove for ART in the subsequent GP2 Asia season and the 2010 GP2 season.
19.
Jules Bianchi competed in three of the four rounds of the GP2 Asia championship.
20.
Jules Bianchi was fourth in the drivers' championship at the time of his injury.
21.
Jules Bianchi remained with ART for 2011, and was partnered by 2010 GP3 Series champion Esteban Gutierrez.
22.
Jules Bianchi starred in the first two rounds of the 2011 GP2 Asia Series, holding off Romain Grosjean for victory in the feature race and gaining fourth in the sprint race, but he was later penalised.
23.
Jules Bianchi finished runner-up to Grosjean in the drivers' championship.
24.
Jules Bianchi opted to switch to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for 2012, following his one-off appearance in the category in 2009.
25.
Jules Bianchi signed for the Tech 1 Racing team, and was partnered with Kevin Korjus, and later with Daniel Abt.
26.
Jules Bianchi finished second in the title race, narrowly losing out to Robin Frijns at the final round.
27.
Jules Bianchi carried on his GP2 racing, as Formula 1 allows test and reserve drivers to race in parallel in other competitions.
28.
On 13 September 2011, Jules Bianchi tested for Ferrari at Fiorano, as part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, with fellow academy member and Sauber F1 driver Sergio Perez.
29.
Jules Bianchi completed 70 laps and recorded a quickest lap time of 1:00.213.
30.
On 1 March 2013, Marussia announced that Jules Bianchi was to replace Luiz Razia as a race driver after Razia's contract was terminated, due to sponsorship issues.
31.
Jules Bianchi overtook Pastor Maldonado, and Daniel Ricciardo on the first lap and he eventually finished 15th on his debut.
32.
Jules Bianchi was 19th on the grid again in Malaysia, 0.3 seconds away from Q2.
33.
Jules Bianchi fell behind the Caterhams at the start of the race, but moved up the order after the pit stops, eventually going on to finish 13th, ahead of his teammate, and both Caterhams.
34.
In October 2013, Marussia confirmed that Jules Bianchi would stay at the team for the following season.
35.
Days before his fatal accident, Jules Bianchi declared himself "ready" to step into the Scuderia Ferrari race seat should the team need him amid the looming departure of Fernando Alonso.
36.
On lap 43 of the race, Jules Bianchi lost control of his car and veered right towards the run-off area on the outside of the Dunlop Curve of the Suzuka Circuit.
37.
Jules Bianchi collided with the rear of a tractor crane tending to the removal of Adrian Sutil's Sauber after Sutil had spun out of control and crashed in the same area a lap before.
38.
Jules Bianchi was reported as being unconscious after not responding to either a team radio call or marshals.
39.
Jules Bianchi was treated at the crash site before being taken by ambulance to the circuit's medical centre.
40.
Since transport by helicopter was not possible due to poor weather conditions, Jules Bianchi was further transported by ambulance, for 32 minutes under police escort.
41.
The FIA subsequently said that CT scans showed Jules Bianchi suffered a "severe head injury" in the crash, and that he would be admitted to intensive care following surgery.
42.
The day after the Japanese Grand Prix, then-outgoing Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo, disclosed to the media that Jules Bianchi had been poised to become the third Ferrari driver in 2015 in the event that the championship moved to three car teams, as had widely been speculated at the time.
43.
The team's financial backer, Andrei Cheglakov, later revealed that Jules Bianchi's crash was a key factor in the Russian's decision to end his financial support of the team and quit Formula One.
44.
The report revealed that Jules Bianchi pressed both the throttle and brake which should shut off power to the engine.
45.
Jules Bianchi was reported to be in a "desperate" condition, with doctors describing his survival as a miracle.
46.
Jules Bianchi was taken out of his artificial coma in November 2014 and began breathing unaided, making his relocation to France for admission at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice possible.
47.
Jules Bianchi died on 17 July 2015, aged 25, from injuries sustained at the time of his accident in Suzuka nine months earlier.
48.
Jules Bianchi's death made him the first Formula One driver to be killed by injuries sustained during a Grand Prix since Ayrton Senna in 1994.
49.
Jules Bianchi fought to the end, as he has always done, but yesterday his battle ended.
50.
Jules Bianchi was cremated and his ashes rest at Monte Carlo Cemetery and partially floated into the Mediterranean Sea.
51.
Many current, former, and future drivers attended Jules Bianchi's funeral, including Alexander Wurz, Esteban Gutierrez, Allan McNish, Alexander Rossi, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Jean-Eric Vergne, Marcus Ericsson, Roberto Merhi, Adrian Sutil, Valtteri Bottas, Pastor Maldonado, Pedro de la Rosa, Romain Grosjean, Daniel Ricciardo, Felipe Massa, Alain Prost, Nico Hulkenberg, Olivier Panis, Daniil Kvyat, and Max Chilton.
52.
In paying his respects, di Montezemolo stated that, thanks to GP2 experience and fine performance with Marussia and in test sessions, Jules Bianchi was the racing driver that Scuderia Ferrari had chosen for the future even being described as a would-be replacement for Kimi Raikkonen.
53.
In December 2015, Jules Bianchi's father announced plans to create a foundation in his son's honour to uncover and nurture young drivers throughout their career.
54.
Jules Bianchi was a guest driver, therefore ineligible to score points.