Bianchi's Dad Says "The Situation Is Desperate" But That "He Won't Stop Fighting"

Jules Bianchi’s father Philippe says the Marussia F1 Team driver remains in a serious but stable condition in the Mie General Medical Centre in Japan.

The Frenchman aquaplaned off track during the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka and hit a recovery vehicle. We have not had an update on his condition since last Tuesday. Marussia ran only one car at the Russian Grand Prix, with Bianchi’s MR03 sitting in the garage all weekend out of respect for him.

Talking to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Philippe Bianchi said his son’s situation was “desperate” but he knows he won’t stop fighting. He also thanked F1 and MotoGP drivers for their support.

He said:

“The situation is desperate. Every time the telephone goes, we know it could be the hospital to tell us that Jules is dead. He will not give up, I’m sure of that. I can see it. I believe it.

“I speak to him. I know he can hear me. His doctors have told us that this is already a miracle, no one has ever survived such a serious accident. But Jules won’t give-up. His trainer Andrea [Ferrari] says that if there is one person who can make it happen with his will, it’s Jules.

“It’s tough. In a week the life of this family has been destroyed,” he says. “What are we doing here? Living a nightmare in a place very far from home. But when Jules gets a bit better we can transfer him, maybe to Tokyo and things will be a bit easier. But who knows when that will happen. If it will happen. We have no certainties, we just have to wait. The people here are lovely but no-one speaks English.”

Philippe also said he is looking at Michael Schumacher’s recovery as a reference point:

“I was very sad when he got hurt. I kept wondering, like everyone else ‘Why don’t they tell us more about how he is?’ But now I’m in the same position I understand. Everyone keeps asking me how Jules is but I can’t reply, there is no answer. It’s very serious, but he’s stable. One day he seems a bit better, other days a bit worse. The doctors don’t say.

The damage from the accident is very bad but we don’t know how it will evolve. Even with Schumacher it took months to come out of the coma. Jean Todt said he hopes Michael will one day be able to have a normal life. One day I hope we can say the same about Jules.”

The Bianchi family has been touched by the support and various tributes:

“It touched us very deeply. We thank every one of them. So many of them have been in touch, written to me; Alonso, [Jean-Eric] Vergne, [Felipe] Massa have given strong messages. Hamilton wrote me a beautiful email in which he says that if there is anything he can do, he’s there. Rossi and Marquez from MotoGP too.”

We’ll keep you updated when more details are announced.

ForzaJules.