Jules Bianchi

Suzuka: French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi remained in a critical condition after suffering severe head injuries in a Japanese Grand Prix crash on Sunday, with the sport praying for him to pull through.

The 25-year-old’s Marussia team issued a statement on Monday giving no medical details but acknowledging a “huge outpouring of support and affection for Jules and the team at this very difficult time”.

They said any update about his condition would be guided by the wishes of his family.

“Together with Jules’ care, they will remain our highest priority. Therefore, we would ask for patience and understanding with regard to further medical updates,” added the Britain-based team.

Bianchi’s family, meanwhile, have thanked the public for its support, though they have asked for privacy as well. A spokesperson for the FIA said Bianchi has been “so well supported by everybody” though his parents wish the public to “respect their privacy”.

French media said Bianchi remained critical and was under artificial respiration, contrary to reports on Sunday evening that suggested he was breathing unassisted after surgery.

Bianchi suffered the injury when he aquaplaned off a wet track and hit the back of a recovery tractor that had been deployed to remove Adrian Sutil’s crashed Sauber. The race was then stopped, with his fellow drivers and teams in a state of shock.

Race winner Lewis Hamilton, who leads the championship for Mercedes, said he was praying for the Frenchman.

“Our first thoughts go to Jules — it overshadows everything else when one of our colleagues is injured and we are praying for him. Next to this, the race result doesn’t seem significant at all,” the Briton said.

The governing international automobile federation (FIA) said the driver had been extracted unconscious from the car and taken to hospital where a scan revealed a severe head injury. He underwent immediate surgery.

Marussia said senior team officials would stay at the hospital to support the driver, along with representatives of Ferrari. Lotus driver Pastor Maldanado visited Bianchi in hospital on Monday, while Fernando Alonso, a close friend as well as a colleague at Ferrari, said: “The only good news we want right now relates to Jules Bianchi. I hope that we hear very soon that he’s alright.”

While racing for a struggling tail-end team, for whom Bianchi scored their first ever points this season, the Frenchman also has a contract with Ferrari as a test driver. Highly regarded and a popular figure in the paddock, the Nice-born driver finished an impressive ninth in Monaco last May and was tipped as a talent for the future — possibly with Ferrari.

He is also managed by Nicolas Todt, son of FIA president and former Ferrari principal Jean, whose other drivers include Brazilian Felipe Massa and Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado.

Serious questions are already being asked of the FIA, motorsport’s governing body, after the accident. Massa, of Williams, said he was “screaming” at the stewards to stop the race, while Sutil said the bad light may have been a factor.

Sutil said: “It was quite difficult. In the end we got more rain and it was dark, so visibility was getting less and less and this corner was a tricky one the whole way through. In the end, when it got dark, you couldn’t see where the wet patches were and that is why I lost the car and it really surprised me.

“In respect of this corner everyone knows it is one of the trickiest one when it is getting late and the rain increases. If you have an accident there you should think about a safety car. It got a little bit dark in the end and maybe we should have stopped the race earlier.”

Massa said: “We need to understand what has happened with Jules. I’m very worried. They finished the race too late. I was already screaming on the radio five laps before the safety car that there was too much water on the track.” Massa’s team manager, Rob Smedley, added they were the darkest conditions he had since in 15 years of being involved in Formula One.

The organisers also came under fire for not bringing the start time forward, when it was obvious the forecast was for torrential rain. Reports said that they were approached on three occasions, but feared spectators would not make it to the circuit in time. (Agencies)