Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

I wish I had known Bianchi better - Hamilton

40

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton says he wishes he had known Jules Bianchi better after finding his funeral "incredibly hard".

Bianchi passed away on Friday evening after nine months in a coma following a crash in last year's Japanese Grand Prix which left him with severe head injuries. Hamilton was one of a number of F1 drivers present at Bianchi's funeral in Nice on Tuesday and he says he will "race hard" for the Frenchman.

"Saying goodbye to Jules was incredibly hard for everyone," Hamilton said. "For myself, I wished I had known him better. But from what I knew of him, he was a kind heart with a great spirit and a bright future. Now our sport embarks on a tough road ahead.

"We have been shown once more the dangers of our sport, that these should be respected and that we drivers commit ourselves to the chance that those dangers are there when we step into the car. We have made great progress for safety thus far and I know that the FIA will continue to make steps forward to improve even further.

"Hungary is a beautiful place, one of my favourites. I will be carrying Jules with me in my prayers and thoughts, not only this race but for the rest of my driving days. I know he'd want us to race hard as he did, and so I will."

Jules Bianchi: 1989 - 2015

F1 drivers pay tribute to Bianchi after death at 25

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.