“Of course I feel ready,” Bianchi said. “I have been working on that since I
joined the [Ferrari] academy in 2009. Now I have done nearly two seasons in
F1. I have good experience and feel ready for that. It looks like the
logical step for me if something happens. At the moment both drivers have a
contract, but if there is an opportunity it will be good for me and I feel
good.”
No one laughed or thought Bianchi’s claims outlandish. It made perfect sense
for the man with motor racing in his blood, for the driver who had so
spectacularly won Marussia’s first points at the Monaco Grand Prix, to one
day be given the chance with the greatest team in the history of the sport.
As Graeme Lowdon, the sporting director at the now defunct Marussia team,
put it: “Jules is not just an incredible Formula One driver; he’s an
incredible human being. So much of our ninth place in the constructors’
championship is down to him and what he did in Monaco.”
From Monaco to Japan, Bianchi’s reputation and consistency had been building.
In Suzuka, as ever, Bianchi was faster than Chilton in qualifying, ending up
more than half a second quicker than his team-mate.
After three separate attempts by Charlie Whiting, the race director, to have
the start time brought forward at Suzuka, the race began at 3pm local time.
Bianchi started 20th on the grid.
Fernando Alonso, Bianchi’s close friend at Ferrari, was the first to retire on
lap two. While Hamilton and Rosberg were battling at the front, Adrian Sutil
was the next to retire. The German lost control of his Sauber at the Dunlop
curve, a long left-hander arduous enough in dry conditions, let alone on a
slippery track. A recovery tractor then trundled along to the stricken
Sauber, winching it up and slowly moving it to the one of the circuit’s
nearby escape roads.
A few minutes later, on lap 43, Bianchi arrived at the same part of the track.
As the 396-page report into his accident confirms, double waved yellow
flags, warning drivers to slow down, were out in force.
Bianchi did not slow down enough. He overcorrected his slide, veering off the
track and straight for the tractor. It took two seconds for the Frenchman to
reach the vehicle. Travelling at 78mph, his helmet struck the sloping
underside of the crane, violently forcing the latter off the ground and
nearly injuring a marshal in the process. Bianchi was extricated from the
wreckage and swiftly taken to hospital in Yokkaichi just over 10 miles from
the circuit.
As the safety car emerged and the race was eventually stopped, all this was
not yet clear. Television commentators and pundits did their best to reflect
the seriousness of the situation. Descriptions filtered through from
photographers at the scene. Sutil, stood by the barrier, saw it unfold, and
was soon back in the paddock to describe the horrific sequence of events.
The usual press conferences were cancelled with everyone anxiously awaiting
news. Myself and a colleague poked our heads into Marussia’s makeshift
motorhome to try to catch a word with the team’s spokeswoman but,
understandably distressed, she was off to the Mie General Medical Centre
with other team members. A couple of hours later, amid a fevered atmosphere,
an official statement came from the FIA, outlining the emergency surgery and
the gravity of Bianchi’s injuries.
As the paddock left damp Suzuka, best attempting to avoid the typhoon and
travel onwards to Russia for the following weekend’s race, dreadful amateur
footage of the crash emerged. The mood was bleak. Formula One, a sport in
which safety has improved immeasurably, feared it might be facing the first
fatality at a race weekend since Ayrton Senna’s 20 years ago.
Once in Sochi, there was just one topic of discussion. Hamilton seemed
particularly moved, remembering the death of fellow karter Daniel Spence
when he was nine years old. Amid the trauma, Marussia conducted themselves
admirably. Chilton drove on regardless, while Lowdon gave an eloquent speech
at the Friday press conference. Unfortunately, Russia was the team’s last
race, as the money finally ran out.
As Chilton noted recently, it has made for a strange few months. “I don’t know
how to put into words how truly devastated I am by what has happened to
Jules,” the 23-year-old said.
“It’s been a very difficult time for the team, made worse by the situation the
team’s going through themselves. We did well to get through the week after
the accident and get to Russia, I think we handled that weekend pretty well,
considering. Then obviously after that we started going into administration
and it’s been pretty tough since.”
It has been an odd time for Formula One at large. The title duel, rows about
finances, intrigue over driver moves, all have continued apace, but the
message on the entrance to the title-deciding Abu Dhabi paddock – ‘Tous avec
Jules’, meaning ‘all with Jules’ – said it all. Yet every so often, news has
emerged from first Yokkaichi and now Nice, near to Bianchi’s home.
The last official word, on Nov 19, was the most positive yet, with news that
Bianchi is now out of a coma and is breathing unaided.
All the while, the debate over safety has been fierce but broadly well
conducted. Alain Prost, the four-time champion, said he was “furious” with
how the stewards conducted the race, but the 10‑man panel cleared them of
any wrongdoing. Recommendations for improving safety, including a ‘virtual
safety car’ to slow the drivers down in hazardous situations, were also
made, but some are dissatisfied that the recovery tractors will remain in
use.
Martin Brundle, the Sky F1 pundit, tweeted: “Ten sensible people on Bianchi
inquiry panel so [you] have to respect [the] 396-page report. But a tractor
on some live corners will never be [the] right answer.”
The right answer or not, the drivers will now engage in a lengthy dialogue
with the governing body to learn the lessons. The rest, inside and outside
the sport, will simply continue to hope for good news from Bianchi’s
bedside. The cloud over Formula One which began back in October has not
cleared just yet, but, as they say, the show must go on.