Official: Marussia will run only one car in Sochi
The Marussia team will run only one car for the Sochi Grand Prix weekend, out of respect for their driver Jules Bianchi, who remains in a critical but stable condition at the hospital in Yokkaichi, Japan.
The Russian team released a statement this morning to announce its decision to run only one car this weekend during the Russian Grand Prix. Here it is in its entirety.
The team wrote to the race stewards to inform them that they have withdrawn their second car. Despite the presence of Alexander Rossi, the officially named reserve driver for the 2014 Russian Grand Prix, the team believes that running only one car, that of driver No. 4, Max Chilton, is the appropriate course of action under the weekend’s difficult circumstances.
Jules’ car team has built a second car, which has been checked and is ready to race, and it will remain on their side of the garage all weekend. In support of Jules and his family, the team and their cars will carry the #JB17 sign, to ensure that even if Jules is not with them in Sochi this weekend, he is, nevertheless, with the Marussia F1 team.
Max Chilton: « I don’t know how to express in words how truly devastated I am by what happened to Jules. The support from the F1 family has been incredible and all we can do is be there to support Jules’ family in these difficult times. It’s going to be a very emotional weekend for the whole team but we will try to focus on it and continue to pray for Jules. »
