Bianchi suffered brain injury in crash

2014 Japanese Grand Prix

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Jules Bianchi suffered a brain injury in his crash in the Japanese Grand Prix two days ago, his team has confirmed.

A statement issued by Bianchi’s family in conjunction with his Marussia team on Tuesday confirmed he suffered a “diffuse axonal injury” after his collision with a track recovery vehicle at Suzuka on Sunday. Diffuse axonal injury is caused when the brain moves within the skull, which can damage brain tissue and cause swelling.

Bianchi remains in intensive care in a critical but stable condition.

Prominent medical expects connected to motor racing have flown to Japan to discuss Bianchi’s treatment with his family and those caring for him at the Mie General Medical Center in Yokkaichi.

They include Professor Gerard Saillant, the president of the FIA Medical Commission, who is also the chairman and a founding member of ICM, the Brain and Spine Institute. Professor Alessandro Frati, a neurosurgeon from the University of Rome La Sapienza, has also travelled to Japan at the request of Ferrari, who have supported Bianchi’s career through their young driver programme.

Marussia and the Bianchi family expressed their thanks for the many messages of support they have received since the crash.

Marussia statement in full

The following statement is provided by the family of Jules Bianchi, in conjunction with the Mie General Medical Center, and is distributed on their behalf by the Marussia F1 Team.

“This is a very difficult time for our family, but the messages of support and affection for Jules from all over the world have been a source of great comfort to us. We would like to express our sincere appreciation.

Jules remains in the Intensive Care Unit of the Mie General Medical Center in Yokkaichi. He has suffered a diffuse axonal injury and is in a critical but stable condition. The medical professionals at the hospital are providing the very best treatment and care and we are grateful for everything they have done for Jules since his accident.

We are also grateful for the presence of Professor Gerard Saillant, President of the FIA Medical Commission, and Professor Alessandro Frati, Neurosurgeon of the University of Rome La Sapienza, who has travelled to Japan at the request of Scuderia Ferrari. They arrived at the hospital today and met with the medical personnel responsible for Jules’ treatment, in order to be fully informed of his clinical status so that they are able to advise the family. Professors Saillant and Frati acknowledge the excellent care being provided by the Mie General Medical Center and would like to thank their Japanese colleagues.

The hospital will continue to monitor and treat Jules and further medical updates will be provided when appropriate.

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Image © Marussia

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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137 comments on “Bianchi suffered brain injury in crash”

  1. Is it worse than Schumi brain injury, I think it worse because he hit the tractor at high speed

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      7th October 2014, 15:41

      let’s leave it to the doctors in charge to give us updates when appropriate.
      speculation and playing amateur doctor does not really help.

      1. Here’s Gary Hartstein’s light on the matter: http://formerf1doc.wordpress.com/

        1. I wish he would shut up. I thought it was odd that the FIA fired him when it happened. I don’t anymore.

          1. Why do you take umbrage at what Gary writes?

            ” I don’t have the heart to go through this again. Not for another of our guys. Jeez.”

            Gary simply tells us what the injury means, from a neuro doctor’s perspective, and is supportive of the driver and his family.

          2. I totally disagree. His delivery is sometimes harsh yes, but the message is very often spot on.

          3. I think Gary was very composed this time.

          4. cathie madigan
            7th October 2014, 22:28

            As an ex neurosurgical nurse of 20 years, this chap Gary, is spot on. I agree with everything he says regarding his explanation of axonal brain injury. But you know, patient’s surprise you, sometimes the ones you fear will not make it do, and wonderfully so, and then there are others who do survive and their quality of life appears so awful you question……none of us know. Miracles happen. I have seen it time after time. All we can do is hope, and for those who believe , pray, and those that don’t believe pray! But I do know the love and support that is flying to Jules and his family and those caring for them is a wonderful thing, brings out the best in us.

        2. Playing amateur doctor does not really help.

          1. Hartstein is hardly an amateur…

        3. I am actually glad i read that ,
          Doesnt make me feel better about the crash ,
          But at least i feel a bit more i formed and perhaps less randomly emotive /angry

          Thanks for the link @paeschli

    2. There are so many more factors than just the speed of impact, the injuries can not be compared. Let’s leave it to the doctors shall we?

      1. That would be mature, rather than “mank and moan” in a time of needed support for Jules and his Family. Lets hope he is ok and this accident doesn’t kill him as it has been a long time since a death in Formula 1 and I dont want it to happen ever despite who the driver is, death is no price to pay on any circumstances.
        This type of brain injury is very bad. I hope Jules can pull through but looking at some sites about diffuse axonal injuy it doesnt look hopeful sadly.
        My prayers and respects are with you Jules.

      2. It could be that there was no head impact with the tractor/crane, just stopping so quickly can cause a diffuse axonal injury, it is the same injury caused to babies when they are shaken.

    3. It’s a completely different injury to Schumi’s so can’t be compared. The only similarity is that the outcome is uncertain and it could well be a long waiting game.

  2. Here is what wikipedia says about “diffuse axonal injuy:

    “Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is one of the most common and devastating types of traumatic brain injury, meaning that damage occurs over a more widespread area than in focal brain injury.
    DAI, which refers to extensive lesions in white matter tracts, is one of the major causes of unconsciousness and persistent vegetative state after head trauma. It occurs in about half of all cases of severe head trauma.”

    “The outcome is frequently coma, with over 90% of patients with severe DAI never regaining consciousness. Those who do wake up often remain significantly impaired.”

    I’m really sad.

    1. It’s very saddening… while I hope for a full recovery, the chances of that don’t seem very realistic (I haven’t seen any crash footage, nor do I want to…)

      My thoughts are with him… at the very least, I hope people will respect him and his family by giving them privacy and allowing them to release news as they see fit.

    2. @jeff1s you should read further – a concussion is also a DAI, so without knowing the severity you can’t conclude anything.

      1. Indeed. Although Bianchi did get a serious hit, so its hard to be too hopefull

      2. @tmf42 True, but “he remains in critical condition” probably means it’s severe, also it doesn’t say DAI is also a concussion, it says a concussion MAY be a form of DAI….

      3. But we do know the severity; it is severe. Stop trying to play it down.

        1. We don’t know squat. And I don’t think we need to.

    3. It is thought that diffuse axonal injury can occur in just about every level of severity, with concussion thought to be one of the milder forms. In mild to moderate forms of diffuse axonal injury, recovery is possible, with the mildest forms of diffuse axonal injury often resulting in few if any long-term issues.

      About 90% of survivors with severe diffuse axonal injury remain unconscious. The 10% that regain consciousness are often severely impaired.

      So, at this point, it is totally dependent on the severity. This is obviously worse than a simple concussion, as he is yet to regain conciousness, but it could be mild enough that he could survive. If he remains in a coma for a significantly longer period of time however, I do fear for the worst.

    4. It sounds similar to the injury Richard Hammond received, with the sudden deacceleration. All is not lost, I wish him the best of recoveries

  3. This looks really, really bad. Quite a lot worse than Massa’s injury…..this could realistically be career-ending.

    So devastated :(

    1. this could realistically be career-ending

      Unfortunately, this could realistically be life-ending.

      My thoughts and prayers go out to the Bianchi family, and all those who know him.

    2. His career is of not importance right now. It’s all speculation at this point and I’m not a doctor so I have no idea but It’s his actual life that takes focus, whether he ever races again or not does not compare to whether his pulls through.

      1. I get wat you mean of course his life is number 1 priority but many people are really sad because this guy was going places. I do not like Pastor but would not wish this on him but with Bianchi it as really got me as he had so much more to give.I mean this man could drive for Ferrari one day.

      2. “His career is of not importance right now.”
        Of course not, but I’m sure there are talks at Marussia what they gonna do next at Sochi

        1. They’ll either run Rossi or Stevens *or* run with just one car out of respect.

    3. The video shows how forcefully he crashed into the crane. The crane bounced with the impact.
      I hope at the end of all this, he comes out fine and we find him racing again. :(

  4. Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is one of the most common and devastating types of traumatic brain injury, meaning that damage occurs over a more widespread area than in focal brain injury. DAI, which refers to extensive lesions in white matter tracts, is one of the major causes of unconsciousness and persistent vegetative state after head trauma. It occurs in about half of all cases of severe head trauma.

    The outcome is frequently coma, with over 90% of patients with severe DAI never regaining consciousness.[2] Those who do wake up often remain significantly impaired.

  5. The Dutch wikipedia states that a diffuse axonal injury can be anything between very minimal temporary damage and indeed severe damage like the English page states. Also, the page states that most patients gradually lose their symptons within months, although there remains a significant amount of people who don’t. I sincerely hope the medical statement is closer to the Dutch wiki than the English wiki, but all we can do is wait…

    1. Liam McShane (@)
      7th October 2014, 15:30

      Small sliver of reassurance but time will tell.

    2. @wessel-v1: I’m with you on that, Dutch wiki sounds much more optimistic.

    3. @wessel-v1

      I am dutch, and mostly “our”wiki is not even used by dutch people bcs there are so few articles, and most are badly translated from english

      1. That is true indeed. However, since I have no medical background, all I can do is hope that the statement leaves room for a less negative explanation than the English wiki does. Another source, http://www.brainandspinalcord.org/traumatic-brain-injury-types/diffuse-axonal-injury/index.html, states that half of the brain injuries can be qualified as a diffuse axonal injury, basically following the Dutch wiki. I have seen the video and honestly to me it is already a miracle we may still speculate about his future, but it’s still too soon to judge. I really hope with all my heart for Jules and his friends and family that he will live a normal life again.

      2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        7th October 2014, 16:46

        Well, I for one, sincerely hope the Dutch are right this time! Like everyone else, I’m very bummed out over this incident… I watched Jules in an interview with Will Buxton the night before the race and he seems like a young man full of promise.

  6. Devastating news. So, so sad to hear that. Even if we can’t even imagine the aggregated knowledge and talent that modern doctors have available today, this is really sad.

  7. This is just so sad. I really feel like crying.

  8. This is a terrible situation, and my heart goes out to Jules, his family and his friends. I know to all of us this doesn’t look good. We aren’t medical professionals working on taking care of Jules Bianchi so we still don’t know the extent of his injury, although it can be no doubt that it is severe.

    I think in times so dark, when the news seems bleak, it’s important to accentuate the positives:
    Jules Bianchi was attended to by medical experts within minutes of his injury.
    He was evacuated to a hospital quickly, was given expert and advanced medical care, and was operated on swiftly.
    He is being seen to by a panel of highly trained and specalised physicians. He has some of the world’s best doctors and neurosurgons attending to him.

    It’s tough to see someone whose career you’ve followed end up in such circumstances. Thinking about how quickly he was attended to after the accident and how everything is being done to help him recover gives me some comfort. I hope those who love him can find some comfort in this too. Keep fighting Jules!

    1. Thank you for this positives comment. I knew I can’t wish any good news after I’ve seen the crash footage, but all your words has ease me a lot.

    2. Thank you, at a time like this it is hard to remember there are some positives. Forza Jules, we are all thinking of you.

  9. Oh my god… I’m petrified by the news… It’s so sad… I don’t know what to say… I’m praying for you, Jules.

    1. Same here. I don’t know what to say. My prayers for Jules and his family.

  10. Must thank the family and team (and F1Fanatic!) for promptly passing information on.

    What does it mean – who knows? I’m not going to waste time frightening myself with Wikipedia, so I’ll look out for a more informed guess by Gary Hartstein to begin with.

    1. me too, I’ll wait to see what he has to say about it, I can only guess it is a severe “Diffuse axonal injury” which doesn’t seem very good. Very, very sad.

      1. After reading the Doc’s post on DAI, I am still none the wiser really, he says at the end:

        “DAI is usually associated with a somber prognosis. Jules is young, strong, and is being cared for by a superb team. C’mon Jules. Go for it”

        Forza Jules

    2. “I’m not going to waste time frightening myself with Wikipedia ” — Word!!

      Anyway a +1 for your post.

  11. Realistically, its hard to see Jules survive, but I still have hope that he will.

    1. Stop spreading FUD, you have no professional knowledge of the situation

      1. No I mean the impact of the crash is really high

    2. realistically??? don’t write such garbage, realistically he will survive, the only question is how much will he recover.

    3. ColdFly F1 (@)
      7th October 2014, 16:37

      @f1indofans – please stop speculating!

    4. Guys, I know this is hard to take. Of course all of us hope Jules fully recovers eventually, but if you have too much hope now then the disappointment will hit very hard when things take a turn for the worst.

      Formula-1 is right in that respect: we need to keep praying for Bianchi, but realistically these are very hard odds to beat. It simply does not look good; you don’t need to be an expert to realise that.

      I’m sorry to force you people to press your faces into it, but you should ry to prepare for that outcome.

  12. So so so sad, hoping and praying for the best. #ForzaJules

  13. The key word in the statement is “diffuse” – it means the brain was injured, but the injury is not specific to one point (as you would with a focal injury, such as a small penetrating injury, perhaps). You can’t infer whether this is good news or bad news for Jules from that statement – generally, any brain injury is bad news and has long-term consequences, as we all know.

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      7th October 2014, 16:10

      It means the brain has been injured over a larger general area.
      9/10 times a diffuse injury is worse than an acute injury.

      Awful news. I’m devastated by this.

    2. it seems that it appears on the extent of the trauma as to how damaged the brain is. if you hit your head then your brain’s momentum will keep it moving a little bit. if you hit it really hard then tissue damage can occur. brain tissue isn’t homogenous, some has different properties to other bits.

      hard news to take – but not definitively bad.

  14. Thoughts with Jules. Stay strong. #forzajules

  15. Unfortunately this sounds likely to be career ending – Whether it is life ending remains to be seen but all we can do is hope. I try to keep positive, there are many well documented stories of people who defy the odds and make full recoveries from horrific injuries – fingers crossed Jules is one of them.

    This sounds to me what I suspected and posted in an earlier story on the day of the accident – His head did not take a significant impact.

    The sheer deceleration force involved in going from 207km/h’ish (He left the track at that speed, would have been slightly less by the time of impact) to a stop in a split second has thrown his brain into the front of his skull. Imagine if you slam your car brakes on how you go forward, imagine doing that at these speeds but stopping almost instantly. Additionally his skull was not penetrated and his helmet appears in tact in the leaked photographs suggesting again that there was no significant blow to the head.

    I am sure we will get the view of a medical expert at some point rather than relying on the unreliable wikipedia, several news articles have obviously looked up the injury on wikipedia as they have quoted it almost word for word.

    1. show some positivity, lots of f1 drivers have hit tyre barriers and stopped instantly and walked out of the car. kubica hit a brick wall at 300kph and only had a concussion, the speed and deceleration wasn’t the issue, it was a huge piece of heavy metal hitting his helmet that was the issue here.

      1. I am not being negative, my very first paragraph hopes he makes a fully recovery like others have against the odds, try reading the full post.

        This is a very very different crash from Kubica you really cannot compare the two. Kubica hit a wall at much higher speed but he did not stop almost instantly he bounced along several times, rolling etc before eventually sliding to a standstill which although still incredibly violent it dissipates the energy over a significantly longer period of time and distance where as Jules has literally gone from around 200km/h to a complete standstill in a couple of metres from the point he hit the JCB to actually stopping – There are not many crashes I can think of that are comparable in the type of impact to the one we are talking about here. The majority dissipate their energy over a distance e.g. sliding along a wall or result in contact with a tyre wall which does a good job of absorbing the energy and softening the blow, not a several tonne JCB.

        There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that any sort of physical impact was made to his head, his helmet was in tact, his skull was not penetrated and the video is not clear enough to draw a conclusion either way.

    2. I wonder how the rest of his body is. If his head didn’t hit anything, as you suspect, and the injury is because of the high g-forces, I’d assume the rest of his body took as big a hit. A broken leg, for example, would be a small injury in comparison, but I wonder if there’s anything else serious.

  16. can anyone remember what sort of brain injury that short host on top gear suffered when he crashed the dragster? hopefully he recovers like he did

    1. That guy didn’t really have much of a brain to begin with so it was much easier and faster for him to recover.

      1. why don’t you go away and die, your comment shows who has no brain – YOU

        1. “why don’t you go away and die”

          That is totally uncalled for, regardless of the preceding comment.

        2. Well, kpcart, Darryn Smith has a point, right? Maybe a wee bit too chirpy within all the grimness of the context, but I for one could do with an (albeit morbid) chuckle in these dark times since last Sunday.

          Cheers from someone who thanks gallow’s humour for helping him stay alive and move onwards through by now 14 years of clinical depression.

      2. Jeremy Clarkson, even with an ”undamaged” brain still had a worse brain than when Richard Hammond crashed in 2006. Either that or Jeremy doesn’t use it properly. Still, Jules crashed slow but into a heavy object. Richard crashed at high speeds but into nothing, the brain injuries might have been different. Still, best wishes to Jules and I hope he recovers to the same extent as Richard.

        1. Richard crashed at high-speed in to tarmac and earth, hardly “nothing”. He was upside down and dragged with his head in the floor for a big distance.

        2. If you have watched the video (If you haven’t… Don’t), there’s nothing to indicate “slow” about that impact, as far as I saw.

    2. I think he also suffered a diffuse axonal injury. However I also think that the impact of his crash was less as his car rolled rather than hit a stationary object. I have no evidence to back this up other than what I’ve read since. Its a sad, sad story. Now is not the time to ask if its career-ending, lets hope he makes a full recovery and can get on with his life, whether that involves an F1 car or not.

    3. “We can assume that most of the damage was to the white matter – the communication wires of the brain. Doctors call this diffuse axonal injury.” So Richard Hammond had a similar injury than Jules (not necessarily the same extent of damage) and with regard to being able to race again, I remember the interview Hammond had with Sir Stirling Moss they spoke about their brain injuries and they both had similar ones and Sir Stirling went on with his racing although he said it was not the same, he did not act instinctively anymore and he had to think more about what he was doing inside the car.

      1. thats a very interesting interview… I suggest everyone to watch it (much better than looking for DIA on wikipedia and speculating). Let’s just hope to hear a similar interview from Jules in the future #forzaJules

    4. According to James Allen’s blog, Richard Hammond did indeed suffer from a DAI as well. He woke up after a week and appears to have made a full recovery. I certainly hope we’ll be able to say the same of Jules in the future.

      1. Let’s pray Jules also survives from this. The accident looked horrendous but somehow I have a feeling he will survive

  17. The Blade Runner (@)
    7th October 2014, 15:58

    I wonder whether this puts the arrival of Max Verstappen into a slightly different perspective?

    Jules, like all of the current drivers, is an adult and responsible for his own actions. Max is still a minor and only turned 17 last week. Imagine the reaction if a “child”, via the sponsorship of Red Bull, was involved in an accident like this.

    If this hadn’t crossed Red Bull’s collective minds previously then I’m sure it has now.

    1. I hope it gives Jules’ family some comfort knowing so many people are thinking of them, and are devastated by the accident.
      Like many others I see Jules as a youngster, a boy, even though he is an adult, entitled to take adult risks. I agree with Bladerunner that Max Verstappen isn’t. This accident should focus the FIA on their responsibilities to ensure those that legally are still children and teenagers cannot face such risks.

    2. That’s a very interesting point.

    3. I thought that too. It’s mere speculation before the FIA report gets in, but it seems none of the bunch of mostly younger and less experienced drivers going through that section with double yellows slowed down in any significant sense – while the more experienced Hamilton, for example, apparently did slow down a lot. An incredibly difficult split-second judgment call to make for any driver, obviously, but placing this kind of call in the hands of a 17 year old maybe does verge on the irresponsible.

      1. Seeing what happened may help Max develop as a driver and as a person. He has now seen what could happen when you ignore flags on the track, but what he does with that knowledge is up to him.
        However, I am sure Red Bull will discuss this matter with him if they are concerned.

  18. I feel bad for Jules and his family, having said that, Gary Hartsein makes a valiod point in this article:

    http://formerf1doc.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/2271/

    he was going way to fast at a double yellow situation…

    1. so did all the other drivers, and they do in every race, they all only slow enough to not put a best sector time in, this has gone on for years, – if they slow too much they are risking losing race position. so lets not single out Jules, some people are coming across like he had it coming to him for not driving at 60kph in the yellow flag zone. I bet both Mercedes drivers entered that section faster then him.

      1. Yes, the misfortune is that he have an off in a very wrong moment.

        He was very fast, the video seems to indicates so.
        Yes that are other drivers that also do it.

        Is just that Jules have the back luck of thinking that nothing will happend, as other drivers do too, and sadly it did.

        All this needs to be confirmed by the investigation team, and like some people here wrote yesterday, I hope people from outside F1 do the dilligence of the investigation so we can all feel that we can trust the results.

      2. Absolutly true, that is what the article says too. Drivers saying, I slowed by 0.3 sec for the yellow flag…

        They all push, that is what they love and are payed for. But it is nit just about them being at risk, it’s the marshals the flags are protecting. Double yellow means “be prepared to stop” . No driver there was that slow in those conditions and some , like Bianchi, with old tires. So what if he had skidded 2m further to the right? He would have missed the tractor but likely have plowed through a few marshals. All drivers should be much more mindfull of such risks. Bianchi was extremely unlucky. But he and other driver all risk an accident like this or worse witarshall casualties by not slowing down enough for yellow or double yellow flags in this case.

      3. “he was going way too fast at a double yellow situation…” “so did all the other drivers”…

        Well, actually they didn’t, go and check the lap times put out by Keith. Only Adrian Sutil, Jules Bianchi and Esteban Gutierriez failed to slow down when the rain became heavier. Sutil crashed whilst following Bianchi closely, as he had been for the previous 7 laps, Bianchi may or may not have realised this, seeing ahead in rain is difficult, behind is ten times worse. The facts show he never lifted his pace after Sutil crashed.

        Question – did his team tell him he wasn’t racing Sutil? If they didn’t was it because they believed it contravened the new team radio clampdown on giving advice about their drivers position in relation to a competitor? Jules crashed on the very next lap, he never saw that Sutil wasn’t there any more, it’s the only plausible explanation for why he was going that fast in a dangerous situation.

        Frankly I think Bernie has a lot to answer for, the timing of the race for a start, and secondly the ban on some team radio, and I note how silent he has been about this accident.

    2. Excelent article.

  19. Yesterday, when there was no news I feel that it was bad if not worst that with Michael. Sadly this seem to confirm my worst fears.

    Still there are miracles and I hope that here we can have one.

    1. I think the real miracle is that no track workers got killed or injured. Such bad luck for Jules, I can not stop thinking about him…

      1. @dutchtreat I completely agree with you. Watching the video of his crash, it is unbelievably lucky that no one else was injured or killed. Cannot believe how lucky and unlucky this whole accident is.

  20. ………..no words…

  21. It is normal to expect the worse, but there are different grades of this injury, and even that the recovery rate is less than 10%, that number is huge, and the drivers of formula 1 are not normal people, I am very confident that he will be recover from this.

    1. Thanks your comment cheered me up a little, lets have some hope, I found this tale of a recovery from a severe DAI: http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/a-crash-a-brain-injury-a-tale-of-hope-1.1753690#.VDQR5vldWoY

  22. That statement sounds bad. I’m praying that Jules takes enough points to win the championship of life.

  23. Very sad in what was such a high for me personally with Hamiton winning went so low in seconds.You could tell seeing Marussia pit guys faces how bad this was.

    Also Keith as i seen someone else say you should be applauded for not bring DOTW up.

  24. The English wiki (perhaps not reliable) further says:

    ”DAI is the result of traumatic shearing forces that occur when the HEAD IS RAPIDLY ACCELERATED OR DECELERATED, as may OCCOUR IN AUTO ACCIDENTS, falls, and assaults. It USUALLY RESULTS FROM rotational forces or SEVERE DECELERATION. VEHICLE ACCIDENTS ARE THE MOST FREQUENT CAUSE OF DAI.”

    But I agree with @bugsracer that F1 drivers are not normal people. They will race their way out through any situation.

    Thoughts and prayers are with Jules and his family.
    #ForzaJules.

  25. Oh, poor Jules… It’s as I feared it would be, worse than Schumacher. This is just terrible… there’s no words. He’s still very young and strong, however. I hope Jules and everyone going through terrible injuries like this get to recover and be able to lead normal lives again.

  26. Forza Jules. We are all with you.

  27. Hey woogle, how can you think of who will go where in such a situation where one of our best racers is fighting for his life?

  28. No Words. Absolutely devastating News. MY thoughts & Prayers with Jules !!!.

    It seems to be worse or same as Schumi’s accident. He is a super young talent it is so sad to see him in this state. Just because there is no fatality FIA should not consider this situation any better than Senna’s / Imola’ 94 weekend situation.

    A Super typhoon hitting the track, Heavy rains, low visibility, Race during the sun set hours with poor visibility and then this accident. FIA should take a deep breath, step back and take stock of the situation and do the best they can. I understand TV audience and viewership is important for the long term sustainability of the sport. We fans should be little flexible to wake up at odd hours to watch the race for the sake of the safety of these drivers whose life is at stake when they produce this great event for us in the weekend.

    He had a great sport career in front him. I thought Ferrari had great plans for him. If he can pull through and still make that happen that is really really wonderful. Looking at the positive side of the things.

  29. It amazes me how deep the helmet sits in the Cockpit. I was assuming that it would not be possible for the Pilot to move that much as he is strapped to the car.

    1. I don´t think the driver move. But the brain moves insde the skull.

      1. No, I am not talking about the injury. Look at Pictures showing Jules’ normal driving Position and compare the height of the helmet to the mirrors and Cockpit protection and then take a look at the pics after the Crash.

  30. So many concerns about the safety of the formula1 front car (ugly noses) and no concern about the high of the trucks and cranes!!! DeVilota was the same, she crashed into a high car! Maybe they will have to adapt the cranes with a low impact zone…

  31. new amateur video, not sure if it was posted… so sad, if you stop it at a certain point you can see his head hits the back of the tractor…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwts_hy0MjA

    1. Oh my goodness, I’m absolutely and honestly speechless.

    2. Holy crap..!!

    3. I don’t think it is clear he hits his head. There are no particular reports of helmet damage, nor reports of a broken neck I’d expect if he had. I’m hopeful the injury is simply down to the deceleration when the roll hoop & airbox hooked up and stopped the car.

      1. Jules Bianchi’s exact moment of impact pic (from video)
        http://i.imgur.com/BLQfdiY.png

        1. It is really quite hard to see if his helmet actually made contact with with the tractor from that angle. In the other pictures I have seen there is no apparent damage to the helmet. And from the description of his injuries, it sounds as though, in simple terms, that his brain moved around inside his skull due to extreme deceleration.

    4. It does look on the pic like Jules hits his head – but it’s distorted and at different heights so hard to judge.

      What we do know is what his injuries are. There is no way his head is going to directly hit a piece of metal of that size at over 100mph and not have a serious impact injury or even instant death – like poor Dan Wheldon.

      His injury is purely caused by the sudden deceleration – which would suggest that maybe his head actually goes under without hitting it. The sad thing is that it’s the sheer size of the JCB that stops Jules’ car in its tracks with the energy not dispersing anywhere – causing this horrific and devastating brain injury.

  32. After watching the amateur video of the crash, I cant help but think of Martin Brundle. Who, every time there is a JCB out on the track, talks of this very incident happening.

    1. Ravenouscartoon
      7th October 2014, 20:35

      He actually mentioned it during the race as soon as the truck came to pick up Sutil’s car but before bianchi hit it. Weirdly prophetic.
      Terrible accident and the footage of the crash is absolutely horrifying, and I’m amazed he is still alive, regardless of condition.
      Honestly though, the conditions didn’t seem worse than Korea a few years ago, or the british go several years ago. Although it was dark, that doesn’t seem to be a factor in this crash, and until we know the details the only thing we can honestly discuss is the use of recovery vehicles.

      1. To me, and I hate to say this, but it sounds as though Jules was not obeying the yellow flags. I don’t really think that any driver obeys the flags, just don’t pass in yellow sectors in order to make appear that they are slowing down.
        I don’t want to blame Jules, only he knows for sure what he was seeing out there, but I do believe that ALL racers are guilty of failing to adhere to flags.

    2. Exactly right. And it shouldn’t take an accident if this magnitude before anything is done about it. Common sense suggests you can’t have JCB’s and racing F1 cars on the same track at the same time.

      Double waved yellows although different in meaning to single waved yellows mean nothing different in reality. When was the last time you saw an F1 car driving slow enough to be prepared to stop? The FIA do nothing to enforce it. Either penalise drivers for not slowing down enough or change the rule. Simple!

  33. A great driver. Our (F1Fanatic) 2014 Monaco GP Driver of the Weekend. I’m so confused about this whole thing, I want to be hopeful but good news are not coming. The more I learn about DAI the more preoccupied I get.

    I’m very sad.

  34. AlonsoFollower
    7th October 2014, 21:26

    Had not posted in F1Fanatic for a long time, but this time I wanted to leave a note so that Jules Bianchi, his relatives and friends know that there is a lot of people hoping for the best possible outcome of this horrible accident. As it has been said already, career ending is not that bad of an outcome if that leaves a person a whole life to live in fairly good shape.
    Of course, all our best wishes can’t help Jules one iota, this fight is now up to the doctors and himself to battle. I’m now thinking of Lauda, Kubica and Schumi and realizing that F1 drivers are by nature incredibly competitive and focused, and those traits should help him in some way. Or so I hope.

  35. My none amateur doctor wife said it’s very bad. The diffuse bit means it’s affected all of his brain and that even in the unfortunately unlikely chance he recovers consciousness he will have brain damage.

    Very sad for him, his family and all of us who have lost a future star.

    1. Thank you for posting a professional opinion.

  36. It almost takes a F1 driver to get into this kind of situation – perhaps it takes a F1 driver to get out of it as well?

    As many have been pointing out; he is young, he is fit and he has a fighting mentality that comes with being a top athlete.

    From what I understand, the most important thing after an injury like this is to control the secondary injuries within the skull. In other words: reducing swelling with the aid of steroids and surgeries, and also keeping the patient in a medically induced coma.
    He got medical attention much faster than most could ever hope to receive. I know it’s too early to say almost anything at all about the severity and I know it was an indeed very serious crash… But perhaps he’ll pull through. It’s easy to see the arguments against it, but let’s not forget that there are also some positive things that can bring a bit of hope in this mess.

    #ForzaJules

  37. Have been feeling really down since I read this news.. All we can hope for Jules is that he makes the best recovery he can.

    I do have to say I hope a third party, a party not aligned to the teams, organizers, FOM or FIA in a direct manner looks at Jules’ accident. I can’t ignore my feelings about the FIA and organizers when it comes to this accident.

    But much more so I hope Jules makes the best possible recovery, gets the best medial attention and his family gets all the support they need.

  38. Come on guys, He hit a tractor at over 100mph, it’s no minor DIA. The fact the family have asked for a 2nd opinion tells you all you need to know.

    #forzajules

  39. I guess this is why these guys get paid super top dollar, I wonder how much of this risk is considered when taking this job ?
    To me seems this guys know the risk and will do it even for free !
    Hope Jules comes back !

  40. I think it’s pretty apparent that this is far from a mild DIA in which a victim is in a coma for 6 to 24 hours. This is much worse than Richard Hammonds injury who was regaining consciousness while waiting for the ambulance.

    I just hope there’s such thing as a miracle for Jules because this is not looking good at all.

    1. @Damonw

      I was under the impression that Hammond remained in a coma for around 7 days? He may have had consciousness for a while but certainly was in a coma – induced I would say.

      I, like most of use have looked up his injury sustained and the outcomes are quite varied to say the least. Some recover, some do not. Lets all just be as positive as possible for Jules and instead of thinking the worst, expect the best outcome and if that does not take place deal with it then!

  41. After hearing the news yesterday I spent hours reading about the condition, It was very depressing and sad learning about the prognosis and chance of survival, I even read Gary Hartstein’s blog on brain injuries..
    Unable to accept there was little chance i then I searched for DIA survivor stories..
    I was surprised to read many stories of hope some even from DIA survivors themselves. Many had to learn to talk and walk again, most encountered problems and issues on a day to day basis I wouldn’t wish on anyone but still there were some really encouraging outcomes and miracles out there.
    If 10% survive then I am hopeful Jules will be part of that group, he has already proved his talent and abilities are upper echelon…
    I believe he can do this !
    #ForzaJules

  42. Very, very sad these last few days…

    You know, with this accident I totally forgot about the driver transfers & co, all the stories, all the speculations from Friday/Saturday. This until I found one picture on the official F1 website. With all the speculation that Alonso will leave Ferrari, makes you wonder… what if ? What would have been if…

    http://www.formula1.com/wi/gi/enlarge/1780×839/popup/TsTs/sutton/2013/dpl1405oc024.jpg

    #ForzaJules

    PS. I hope the picture link works, if not, it’s the 16th picture from F1.com Japan Sunday gallery.

  43. Does anybody knows who’s replacing Bianchi in the next GP?

    1. Would imagine it would be Rossi, maybe with Stevens on the Friday – given that both would have travelled with the team anyway. Although they may not run a car as a mark of respect to Jules.

  44. @william-brierty Who alleged I had the moral high ground? Only you just now.

    And come on, if you think covering your back by saying you were “pessimistic” covers the comments you made above where you write off Bianchi as his “conscious and independent life is over” with no word from his doctors and family that such a thing is true then it’s no wonder I’ve had to hammer the point home as to how you were being so callous and insensitive in such a terrible situation.

    You didn’t once apologise for jumping to conclusions, for making up knowledge about his personal condition or about how you were premature in your statement that “the bell tolls for the first time in twenty years” without a death notice being issued. Just that you were sorry for being “pessimistic”. A non-apology apology.

    I’ve said my piece on this matter. We’ll agree to disagree I am sure. I accept your apology if that means anything to you and in turn apologise for my “overly verbose” remark. You’re right that was bogus and classless of me.

    1. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
      9th October 2014, 12:35

      @colossal-squid – Whilst as a former journalist I will reserve the right to remain realistic, my apology was a genuine gesture of regret about a shock-induced post I’m glad Keith has deleted. Whilst I perhaps didn’t express it properly, my apology was not merely for being pessimistic, but for the overarching tone of my post, a tone that in retrospect, having spoken to a medical friend of mine and read more widely about DAI, was inappropriate. However I would still maintain that your hurricane of remonstrance against any (not so much me specifically) even exploring the severity of Bianchi’s current prognosis was at best ham-fisted and at worst plain inappropriate.

      In that you are clearly one of this forum’s finest contributors, I look forward to other detailed and riveting debates (about hopefully more uplifting topics) between us in the future.

      1. @william-brierty I appreciate you saying that. With some reflection, I think it’s fair to say things got out of hand on my part and there was a healthy dose of miscommunication between us both. Although I still maintain my objections were valid, my method in conveying such was not as tactful as could have been to say the least (particularly my regretful later comments which I’m glad have been removed).

        In retrospect I am sorry for such words. I have a lot of respect for your comments posted on F1Fanatic and look forward to reading your comments and discussing many matters with you in the future. I’ll do my best to not be so quick to harsh responses and immature language in the future. My apologies.

  45. will the FIA give themselves a sanction for this? or is it only the drivers/teams that get penalized for mistakes?

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