Categories: DriversF1 News, Reports and Race Results

Bianchi's father: I feel like something has been hidden from me

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The father of Jules Bianchi says he feels like "something has been hidden" from him regarding his son's crash in the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

Bianchi suffered severe head injuries when he hit a recovery vehicle having gone off in wet conditions at Suzuka two years ago, passing away in July 2015. His father Philippe opened legal proceedings against the FIA, Formula One Group and Marussia - the team Jules was driving for - earlier this year, and told Canal+ he believes he has not been given all the information regarding the accident.

"I have the impression that something has been hidden from me," Bianchi said. "We asked for some time for the images from Jules’ onboard camera for instance, the official images from FOM, to understand what happened and we’ve never had the footage. Of course, the tiny investigation that was conducted was not sufficient."

And Bianchi was also not happy with the post-crash investigation which apportioned some of the blame to his son and cleared the FIA of wrongdoing in its handling of the race.

"Given the seriousness of the accident, I was surprised to see how fast the investigation was conducted. In my eyes, the experts were not that independent because all members of the committee had ties with the FIA. I totally disagree with their findings and that’s why I am not letting it go. I would have wanted different explanations from the ones that were given."

Explaining the reasons for his legal action, Bianchi believes it is important there is clarity for the sake of those racing at present.

"I think this was not a normal accident, so we strive to make sure Jules’ name is not tarnished because his responsibility in the accident is not engaged. And we want to make sure this tragedy never happens again.

"There are still drivers competing out there and it’s important for everybody to know exactly what happened. I don’t want to go on a war that would be lengthy and ultimately useless for everybody in my opinion. And the only thing we want is that Jules’ death is respected."

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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.