Mourners at Jules Bianchi's funeral recall Formula One driver as a ‘humble’ winner
Frenchman died last Friday after being in a coma for nine months after crash at Japanese Grand Prix
Race helmet perched on his coffin, Jules Bianchi was mourned on Tuesday as a “humble” winner in a Formula One career cut short in the sport’s first deadly crash in more than 20 years.
Tributes mounted for the French driver, who died last Friday after nine months in a coma following a crash during last year’s Japanese Grand Prix.
He always knew how to remain humble, nice with everybody and that made him different from the others
“He was so natural, humble,” said his manager, Nicolas Todt, the son of FIA president Jean Todt. “F1 is a complicated profession, often you can lose touch with reality – he always knew how to remain humble, nice with everybody and that made him different from the others.”
Born into the sport, Bianchi competed in 34 races over the 2013 and last year seasons, scoring the first ever championship points for Manor – then known as Marussia – by finishing ninth at last year’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Bianchi had been in a coma since the October 5 accident, in which he collided at high speed with a mobile crane that was picking up another crashed car.
“He wrote the history of F1,” French driver Jean-Eric Vergne said outside the funeral. “[Bianchi] has contributed enormously and will watch over us all.”