- Japanese GP
Bianchi in intensive care after surgery
Marussia driver Jules Bianchi is in intensive care after undergoing surgery on a severe head injury sustained when he crashed at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix.
In heavy rain, his car left the track and hit a recovery vehicle that was removing the Sauber of Adrian Sutil which had come off on the previous lap at the same corner.
A statement from the FIA said that Sutil had spun and hit the tyre barrier and "marshals displayed double waved yellow flags before the corner to warn drivers of the incident. A recovery vehicle was dispatched in order to lift the car and take it to a place of safety behind the guardrail. While this was being done the driver of car 17, Jules Bianchi, lost control of his car, travelled across the run-off area and hit the back of the tractor."
Bianchi was removed from his car and taken to Mie General Hospital by ambulance. A CT scan showed what the FIA said was "a severe head injury" and he was operated on almost immediately.
There has been no official statement following the operation but early reports in the French media said Bianchi was breathing on his own following surgery but these were soon subject to other conflicting reports. His condition has been described by an FIA spokesman at the hospital as "critical but stable".
Sutil, who was unhurt, witnessed the crash and said he believed the conditions were to blame. "It was the same as what happened to me, he had been aquaplaning but just one lap later. It hit him hard. That is all I can say. I have no information about how he is but I really hope for him that it is all OK and my thoughts are with him. It was more or less the same crash, but the outcome was a bit different. [The tractor] came out to rescue my car, and then it all happened."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
