Championship leader Lewis Hamilton won a wet Japanese Grand Prix from Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg on Sunday in a chaotic finish, but his victory was overshadowed by a serious crash involving Frenchman Jules Bianchi.
Bianchi was rushed to hospital unconscious, after a shunt which brought the rain-hit race to a premature halt, to undergo emergency surgery for a serious head injury.
"Jules is seriously injured," Bianchi's father Philippe told France 3 television. "He is undergoing surgery for a head injury and we will need to wait 24 hours to know any more on his condition."
Formula One's governing FIA said Bianchi, who raced in the Macau Formula Three Grand Prix in 2009 before graduating to Formula One, had "suffered a severe head injury" and was to be monitored from the intensive care unit following his operation.
Hamilton ducked superbly inside fierce rival Rosberg on the 29th lap and stormed away to win at Suzuka for the first time and increase his advantage over the German to 10 points with four rounds left this season. Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel finished third for Red Bull.
"Obviously, it didn't finish the way I would have hoped and my prayers are with Jules and his family," said Hamilton.
Typhoon rain had been forecast for the race and it began behind the safety car, only for the drivers to be called back to the pits minutes later.
The safety car came out again after 44 laps following Bianchi's accident - the Frenchman's Marussia colliding with a recovery vehicle after German Adrian Sutil smashed his Sauber into a wall - and the race was suspended two laps later with the rain getting heavier and the light rapidly deteriorating.
Celebrations were muted on the podium with news having filtered through of Bianchi's crash, none of the top three indulging in the traditional champagne spraying.
Sutil witnessed Bianchi's crash at close quarters after sliding out at the same bend.
"I had aquaplaning at that corner," he said. "The rain got worse and worse, the visibility got less and less. One lap later, Jules came around and had the same spin there, and that was it. It was more or less the same crash, but the outcome was different."
"All in all, Lewis did a better job today and deserves to win," said Rosberg.
