10 years ago, the death of Jules Bianchi led to the introduction of new safety measures
7,747 days, 21 years, 2 months, and 16 days, that's the longest period without a driver losing his life in F1. On May 1, 1994 during the black weekend of Imola, Ayrton Senna died in the Tamburello corner. On July 17, 2015, Jules Bianchi passed away at the hospital in Nice, his hometown, nine months after his accident at the Japan Grand Prix.
The Grand Prix of Japan, in Suzuka, is held on October 5, 2014. During this period of the year, heavy rains are quite common because of typhoons. On the grid, the two title candidates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton start on the front row, the German in pole position.
The rain is so intense that the race direction decides to start the race under safety car conditions. Despite this precaution, the track is impassable. Sebastian Vettel, on wet tires, aquaplanes at only 80 km/h. Lewis Hamilton informs his stand that he cannot see his teammate’s single-seater at all. Marcus Ericsson spins out after only two laps. All cars return to the pit stops awaiting a lull.
When the drivers return to the track, the safety car continues to lead the pack. Hamilton and Jean-Éric Vergne find at this point that the conditions are good for driving, while Vettel finds the visibility ”very poor from 140 km/h”.
On the 10th lap, the safety car disappears and the race begins, on a track that is still very wet. Hamilton attacks to take the lead, but goes off track twice, first on wet tires and then on intermediates. At the start of the 29th lap, number 44 takes the lead of the race, just before the first turn, greatly aided by the DRS.
The fatal accident of Jules Bianchi
The British driver is gaining on Rosberg, but the weather conditions worsen again from the 40th lap, night begins to fall and the rain intensifies again. Magnussen spins out and Vettel goes into the grass in the S of the circuit. On the 43rd lap, Andrian Sutil loses control of his Sauber in turn No. 7, a crane truck arrives to recover the single-seater.
One lap later, in the same turn, Jules Bianchi also skids. He tries to recover his Marussia but collides with the towing vehicle, his single-seater hit the underside of the vehicle. The impact was so violent that it lifted the truck. The red flag came out on the 46th lap before the race was definitively stopped, Lewis Hamilton is declared the winner ahead of Rosberg and Vettel. But at this point, the championship is of no importance to the paddock.
In the accident, Jules Bianchi’s head hit the underside of the tractor head-on. The medical car quickly arrives on the scene. Adrian Sutil was opposite the destroyed Marussia of the Frenchman. He is one of the last people to see Bianchi close his eyes one last time. Jules Bianchi is in a coma for many long days at the Yokkaichi hospital, his condition is judged ‘critical but stable’ by doctors.
In the meantime, the Nice-born man is transferred to the hospital in his hometown, where he will pass away on July 17, 2015 at the age of 25. His funeral will take place four days later in the presence of his family, his friends and a large number of drivers around the Frenchman’s coffin. Behind their black sunglasses, Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado can’t hold back their tears.
On July 26, Sebastian Vettel wins the Hungarian Grand Prix. Barely crossing the finish line he launches on the radio, in French, his index finger pointed towards the sky: ”Thank you Jules this victory is for you”.
The increase in security after the accident
The investigation revealed that Jules Bianchi had not slowed down enough during the double yellow flag. But a F1 driver strives above all to lose as little time as possible. To force all drivers to slow down, without involving the safety car, the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) or virtual safety car regime was introduced in 2015.
The protection of the drivers’ heads also comes back to the forefront of concerns. Several devices had been tested since 2009 and the accident of Felipe Massa, in Hungary, where the Brazilian had received a spring from the suspension of Barrichello’s BrawnGP right in the head. But it was only in 2018 that the titanium protection of the halo made its appearance.
This halo will be heavily criticized by the drivers at the time of its introduction. But since then it has saved the lives of many drivers, like Charles Leclerc in Belgium in 2018, Romain Grosjean in Bahrain in 2020, Lewis Hamilton in Monza in 2021 or even Zhou Guanyu in Silverstone in 2022.
Despite the increase in F1 safety, danger remains present at every moment and the right decisions are not always made. Like during the Japan 2022 Grand Prix, where in a new heavy rain, a tow truck was on track during a red flag to evacuate Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari. Pierre Gasly, who stayed on track, passes close to the tractor, even though visibility was very reduced. The former AlphaTauri driver believes he could have been killed that day.
