Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsManor

Manor 'devastated' as Bianchi passes away

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Jules Bianchi's former team - Marussia, now known as Manor - has said it is "devastated" by the Frenchman's death at the age of 25.

Driving for the team under the Marussia name, Bianchi was involved in an horrific accident during last year's Japanese Grand Prix, losing control in wet conditions and hitting a recovery vehicle. The Frenchman was left in a coma with severe head injuries before passing away last night.

"We are devastated to lose Jules after such a hard-fought battle," the team wrote on Twitter. "It was a privilege to have him race for our team."

Bianchi had scored the team's best F1 result and only world championship points with ninth place in Monaco last year, which secured Marussia ninth place in the constructors' championship.

Marussia ran only one car at the following race in Russia before entering administration, returning this year as Manor. The team's cars have carried the hashtag #JB17 in reference to Bianchi and his race number at every grand prix since the accident.

A number of F1 drivers have paid their condolences following the news of Bianchi's death via social media.

Jules Bianchi: 1989 - 2015

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.