Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsPeople

Justin Wilson's funeral held near Silverstone

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The funeral of ex-F1 driver Justin Wilson has been held near Silverstone in the United Kingdom.

Wilson died after being struck on the head by debris in an IndyCar crash at Pocono Raceway on August 23, succumbing to his injuries a day later. The former Minardi and Jaguar driver was 37.

Over 500 people attended his funeral on Thursday, which was held at St James the Great Church in Paulerspury, just a few miles from the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire. Wilson's former Jaguar team-mate Mark Webber was among the pallbearers, as well as four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti.

Wilson's wife Julia read a poem entitled 'Today, I washed you away' at the service, while Jonathan Palmer - the former F1 driver who helped Wilson through his junior career - also delivered a 12-minute eulogy.

The Sheffield-born driver raced in IndyCar from 2008, securing three victories and a best championship finish of sixth place in 2013. Wilson's F1 career saw him start 16 races for Minardi and then Jaguar in 2003, scoring a single point with a best result of eighth place in the United States Grand Prix.

Following Wilson's death, a fund was set up to help support his wife and two young daughters: Wilson Children's Fund

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.