- Bianchi Accident
Jules Bianchi will not give up, says father Philippe
Jules Bianchi remains in a serious condition but will continue to fight, his father Philippe has said.
The Marussia driver has been in a critical condition since he crashed into a recovery vehicle at the Japanese Grand Prix. He is currently in intensive care at Yokkaichi's Mie General Medical Centre where his father said he continues to fight for his life.
"The situation is desperate," Philippe Bianchi told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Every time the telephone goes, we know it could be the hospital to tell us that Jules is dead. But initially they said that the first 24 hours were crucial. Then it became the first 72 hours and here we are still with Jules, who is fighting.
"He will succeed in the most important qualifying lap of his life. He won't 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 says that if there is one person who can make it happen, with his will, it's Jules."
Philippe said there was no update on his son's condition or any way of knowing how it will evolve.
"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 [Michael] Schumacher it took months to come out of the coma. [FIA president] 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.
"It's tough. In a week the life of this family has been destroyed. 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 21 drivers taking part in last weekend's Russian Grand Prix gathered on the grid ahead of the race in a show of support for Bianchi and his family. Philippe said his family has been touched by the show of support from those in the F1 paddock and beyond.
"I've never seen anything like that. It touched us very deeply. We thank every one of them. So many of them have been in touch, written to me; [Fernando] 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. [Valentino] Rossi and [Marc] Marquez from Moto GP too."
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