Today, July 17, 2022, marks the seventh death anniversary of the late yet bright F1 car racer, Jules Bianchi.
As the racing fandom remembers the tragic day in the sports industry, the Bianchi family and friends are more than thankful for the emotional support.
Jules was an emerging star racer and ultimately the dominant name in car racing tournaments. Sadly, things did not go alright for him as he passed away in an accident at the young age of 25.
What Happened To Jules Bianchi? More On The JB17 Crash
Jules Bianchi was racing in the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix on October 5 to win the title. It was raining heavily at that time due to the approaching Typhoon Phanfone.
Bianchi’s car collided with the rear of a tractor crane that had been tending to the removal of Adrian Sutil’s Sauber after Sutil had crashed in the same area a lap before.
His accident occurred on the race’s lap 43 when he lost control of his car and veered right towards where the crane was working.
The significantly injured Bianchi was treated at the crash site before being taken by ambulance to the circuit’s medical center.
He was later transported to Mie Prefectural General Medical Center by ambulance as the bad weather prevented helicopter use.
The accident later triggered “JB17” in the racing field to honor the racing prodigy. Many car racers, including Romain Grosjean, race with “JB17” written on their gears.
17 refers to Jules’ car number, now retired in his honor.
Jules Bianchi Suffered From Diffuse Axonal Injury Before His Death
The fatal accident left Bianchi hospitalized in Japan for a month due to a diffuse axonal injury requiring a medical ventilator.
Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is tearing the brain’s long connecting nerve fibers (axons). It happens when the brain is injured, shifts, and rotates inside the skull.
DAI causes coma and injury to many different parts of the brain at the same, as Hopkins Medicine defines. The doctors had called Jules’ survival a miracle that was added by improvement.
Bianchi was taken out of his artificial coma in November 2014 and moved to the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice (CHU) in France the same month.
He remained comatose until his death on July 17, 2015. His death made him the first Formula One driver to die due to an F1 racing accident since Ayrton Senna’s death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
F1 Racer Jules Bianchi Was Godfather To Charles Leclerc
Jules Bianchi inspired many young minds who hoped to be professional car racers. Among them is the current F1 racer, Charles Leclerc.
The young Leclerc is the winner of the 2016 GP3 Series championship and the 2017 FIA Formula 2 Championship. He had made his Formula One debut in 2018 with Ferrari’s team, Sauber.
Leclerc maintained a close relationship with the late Jules throughout his childhood and early career as his godson.
Thus, the Ferrari star racer usually mentions Jules in his interviews and is open about his respect for him. In 2018, Leclerc announced that Jules was more deserving of his Ferrari seat than himself.
The Sports Rush mentioned that incident of 2018 when the young lad was announced to be the Sauber racer for 2019.