Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has summed up the entire Formula 1 community’s thoughts by saying that the on-track action in today’s Japanese Grand Prix is secondary following Jules Bianchi’s accident towards the end of the race.
Bianchi crashed into a recovery vehicle at turn eight at Suzuka today, and has since been transferred to Mie University Hospital for treatment. The FIA confirmed that he was unconscious following the accident.
Vettel finished the race in third place, but said that the result was irrelevant in light of the news.
“Everything that happened with the racing on track is secondary today,” Vettel said. “One of us is in a bad shape and we don’t yet know how he is.
“Jules had a bad accident and we hope to have some very good news, very soon. Not knowing what’s going on feels terrible.
“I think all the drivers really feel with him, as we know how difficult and slippery it was today. We hope for the very best.”
Daniel Ricciardo echoed his Red Bull teammate’s words, keeping his media statement short.
“Right now we’re all thinking about Bianchi and that’s the biggest concern for us,” the Australian said. “We heard he had a pretty big crash and it’s not nice when we don’t know if the driver is okay.
“The race was tricky, it wasn’t going too badly and the set-up we had for yesterday paid off. We tried a few different things with the strategy, but Bianchi is my main concern at the moment.”
We will be updating the article on Bianchi with more updates once they are confirmed by the FIA.
