Bianchi Accident: F1 Arrives in Sochi in a Very Heavy Atmosphere
Four days after the Suzuka tragedy, F1 is arriving this weekend for the first time in Russia. The drivers and the rest of the paddock remain deeply affected by the misfortune that befell their colleague, Jules Bianchi.
The first Russian Grand Prix should have been a celebration, but thoughts remain focused on the situation of Jules Bianchi, who is in critical condition at the hospital in Mie, Japan. The paddock hasn’t failed to show its support for the driver from Nice and to reflect on the situation.
Thus, Romain Grosjean, still shocked, spoke to Sky Sports, imagining that his friend and compatriot would be the first to motivate him to race: « I didn’t sleep very well and all my thoughts are with him. But I know that if he could say something right now, he would say: “Hey guys. You’ve got a Grand Prix to do. Go ahead!” I am in love with Formula 1, I love racing and I know that Jules loves racing. »
All the drivers will display stickers (“Tous avec Jules #17”) on their helmets and teams on their cars, as well as messages (#ForzaJules) to pay tribute to the Marussia driver and support him in his fight against death.
During the usual Thursday press conference, held in a solemn atmosphere, Adrian Sutil declared: « We will race for him ». The German driver was accompanied by Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Daniil Kvyat, and Felipe Massa.
All these drivers are trying to focus on this race weekend, but it’s very hard not to think about the horror of last week, just like Fernando Alonso, who is visibly affected: « When there’s a big, big accident. There are no words to describe how bad you feel. It was a tough, tough weekend and now we are here, but it will be another tough weekend; emotionally very difficult. We are ready to race and to race for him and to be as professional as possible, but clearly my mind is with him right now and I am praying for him ».
On his side, Felipe Massa, who suffered a serious accident in 2009 during the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifications, does not hesitate to call the Japanese weekend the worst race of his career: « For me, Suzuka was the worst race of my life, it was truly a bad race, much worse than the race of my accident, because I don’t even remember that. It’s very difficult because every day you just think about Jules, and it will be a difficult weekend for all of us. »
For the four-time world champion and GPDA co-director, Sebastian Vettel, it’s the feeling of bad luck that prevails: « The difficult conditions left a very small margin for error. Obviously, for Jules, at that moment, it was too small, and in addition to that, very unlucky circumstances really led to the catastrophe. If something happens, there is always the chance to learn something for the next time and probably to prevent these things from happening. But we also have to understand or see that with the cars we drive, the speeds at which we go, accidents can happen. »
Just five days ago, the dominant event in the paddock was the departure of the German from Red Bull. Fernando Alonso had to answer questions about his future, and Jules Bianchi was expected to potentially join Scuderia in the more or less near future. How things have changed…
