Bernie Ecclestone demands answers with Jules Bianchi in intensive care

BERNIE ECCLESTONE has called for an independent inquiry into the accident that has left Jules Bianchi in intensive care.

In this Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014 photo, rescuers and others gather around the car of Marussia Formula One driver Jules Bianchi after crashing during the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan. Bianchi was unconscious when he was taken to a nearby hospital following a crash during Sunday's rain-shortened race and is undergoing emergency surgery after a scan revealed a severe head injury. (AP Photo/The Asahi Shimbum) JAPAN OUT, NO SALES, MANDATORY CREDIT, ONLINE OUT

BERNIE ECCLESTONE has called for an independent inquiry into the accident at the Japanese Grand Prix that has left Jules Bianchi in intensive care.

Formula One’s promoter, who was not in Japan, wants to clear up any doubt over the circumstances surrounding the dreadful accident in the final laps of the race at Suzuka when Bianchi’s Marussia car left the circuit and smashed into a recovery tractor.

He wants the FIA, the sport’s governing body, to hand the investigation over to a team of expert lawyers to ensure that there is no repeat of the events that overshadowed a dramatic grand prix won by Lewis Hamilton as dusk fell on a drenched Suzuka.

Jean Todt, the FIA president, has already asked for a detailed internal report from Charlie Whiting, the race director. Professor Gerard Saillant, the FIA’s medical commission president, has flown to the hospital in Japan where Bianchi, 25, is in intensive care and said to be critical but stable. Saillant attended to Michael Schumacher after the seven-times world champion suffered terrible brain injuries in a ski accident ten months ago.

An FIA statement said: “(THE REPORT])will aim to be as complete and detailed as possible in order to understand exactly the accident that occurred.”

It is a first step, but Ecclestone wants transparency and speed. “It is difficult for me to say what happened and it will be for an inquiry to find out exactly what did go on,” Ecclestone told The Times.

“We have done so much for safety. These days, you see an accident on the track and the driver undoes his safety belt, flips off his steering wheel and jumps out unharmed. I have always said that if I was going to have an accident, it would be in a Formula One car because they are the safest in the world.

“But things happen and we have to find out the cause. This happened to a young man who is very close to us all and that has caused a terrible shock for everyone. Our thoughts are with him and his family.”

As Ecclestone spoke, Philippe and Christine Bianchi were arriving at the Mie General Medical Center in Yokkaichi, a few miles from the Suzuka circuit, to be with their son. They had been at home in the south of France where Philippe Bianchi has a restaurant and were given the news by telephone that his son was critically ill with head injuries.

Camille Marchetti, Bianchi’s girlfriend, could only send her message via Twitter. She was praying for his recovery and added: “You are my champion! You are the strongest.”

Graeme Lowdon, Marussia’s racing director, and John Booth, the team principal, have been at the hospital where Bianchi underwent a three-hour operation to alleviate a subdural haematoma. Both men had gone all night without sleep as doctors battled to save Bianchi.

The trauma was felt throughout the sport: Fernando Alonso, of Ferrari, sent a message to his 2.1 million followers in the middle of a Japanese night. “Difficult to sleep,” it said simply. Drivers are holding their breath as they wait for news of their colleague but there is little time to dwell on events as they have to take to the track again on Friday for practice for the inaugural Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.

Todt will attend that race to offer reassurance but it was left to Max Mosley, the elder statement of the FIA, to do the talking yesterday. In concert with Ecclestone, Mosley revolutionised safety in F1 after the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994 and he believes Bianchi’s crash was “a freak accident”.

“What happened in Suzuka was very unfortunate — a freak accident — and I can’t really fault any of the people involved, the marshals or the race director or any of those people,” Mosley said. “Everything was done as it should have been. There is pretty much an automatic procedure; as soon as a car goes off, that car becomes a danger to other cars because if another car going off hits it, the effects are unpredictable.”

However, drivers will want to know that answers are found to avoid a repeat of even a freak accident.

The Times