Even though not many people here know who that is, he was well loved in this side of the Atlantic, and he deserves a thread.

Jules Bianchi was a French Formula One driver. Not many people here will know what I'm talking about, but it's the highest level of motorsport competition, the most advanced and (technically) fastest racing prototypes in the planet. Since 1994, not a single Formula One driver had died in an in-race crash. Until now.

The date is October 5th, 2014. The venue: Suzuka, host of the Japanese Grand Prix. The conditions: very bad. A typhoon was approaching, and heavy rain started to fall in the track intermittently. Lap 43: the race is under Safety Car due to the heavy rain, and none of the cars is unable to avoid aquaplanning (literally sliding in the water without the tires making contact to the track).

A lap before, another driver had spun out in one of the turns, and a crane was deployed to take the car out of the runaway. With the crane having already lifted the car and preparing to retreat back to the sidelines, Bianchi spun out at that same turn, colliding with the rear of said crane at over 210 km/h (+130 mph). The impact partially jolted the crane, and the car it was lifting fell to the ground. Bianchi slid under the tractor, hitting his head heavily. He was rendered unconscious ever since, and never awakened.

For the first time in two decades, a huge accident occurred in the competition. For nine long months, Bianchi fought for his life, trying to awaken like another retired Formula One driver that was also rendered comatose months earlier after crashing while skiing. However, Bianchi couldn't win the fight, and he passed away, few weeks short of his 26th birthday.

If they knew there was a typhoon approaching, why did they continue the race? The answer is simple: money. All the tickets sold for the day, all the televisions that were broadcasting the event... This is the world we live in, we force drivers who already risk their lives in normal conditions to race under inhuman conditions. The price: a young driver's life, a great future shattered by the old greedy a**h*** of Bernie Ecclestone.

I don't know if I'm more saddened by this news than enraged. Lately, the Formula One is falling deeper into the void, taking decisions that no one approves. However, only one of those decisions matters now: the fact they killed a man. They didn't care about the typhoon, simply because they were well sheltered against it. Not like the 22 drivers on track, and absolutely not like the several tenths of thousands of people filling the stands.

October 5th, 2014. Japanese Grand Prix. Lap 46. Race is red-flagged and brought to a halt due to the constant crashes, the latest one being that of Bianchi. The drivers on podium didn't spray champagne, as it's tradition, in respect of Bianchi. Spectator's video footage starts spreading, showing how Bianchi clearly crashes head-on against the crane. Discussions about putting a sheltered cockpit start to arise once again, after María de Villota also crashed in a similar way as Bianchi in a test a few years ago (María had also passed away months before Bianchi's crash, also as a consequence of the crash, she wasn't left unconscious but lost her right eye and had prominent scars).

July 17th, 2015. Nice, France. Jules Bianchi succumbs to his injuries. The world of Formula One ended this way with a streak of 20 years without any driver death. For once, however, this death wasn't due to a mechanical failure of sorts, or a lack of safety reasons. It was an error from the organizers, which have boasted more safety reasons to avoid similar situations.

There's only one safe way to avoid situations like this: don't race under inhuman conditions. No matter how many millions will you lose, a human life is priceless. Stop playing with them like if they were nothing. Reposer In Paix, Jules.

Very sad indeed . I remember Aynton Seyna's (?) death; the winner looked like he had a mourning face, for a reason.

Safety is always hard to gage in this kind of sport. While money may have some blame, it just varies wildly; some wet tracks could be easier to drive on.

janus : It's Ayrton Senna, but enough of being a grammar nazi.

I know safety is a hard topic in this sport. Precisely, when Senna and Ratzenberger died at Imola 1994, all tracks after that Grand Prix introduced chicanes to "increase safety". The results were horrible, both in appearance and results. Here, in Montmeló, the new chicane introduced lasted only one Free Practice session before being deemed "absurd" by the drivers themselves.

The track wasn't wet, it was a f***ing typhoon. You don't need to be Albert Einstein to know that if a typhoon may approach any open-air activity will be 500% more dangerous than it normally is. Money is EVERYTHING to blame in here.

I'm glad they retired his number. A fitting gesture, especially considering the fact that none of the other major racing series bother to do it.  It's sad, and now people will be angry and skeptical of Suzuka, one of my favorite tracks. You'd think that F1, of all racing series, could get their act together.

Hidden Phantom : Please don't remove Suzuka. After Tilke literally destroyed Fuji, there's no other track in Japan to host the national Grand Prix. They won't be building a new track either, and moving to already existing tracks like Motegi seems rather impossible. Japan is a big market for the F1, they won't leave the calendar without a Japanese round, and it's going to be Suzuka even if haters gonna hate.

It's actually nice they retired his number. It could be impossible in the past, as each driver wore the number according to the position they finished in the Constructors' Championship, but now that every driver wears the number they choose, gestures like this are possible.

EX Palen : it is as you say it is. Plus, I don't like Motegi.
The whole thing is kind of shocking:
First, he is the first F1 driver to die since Senna in 1994. And that is a long time ago, if you think about it.
Second, he is the first "major" driver to die since Jason Leffler in 2013, which wasn't a hard hit for most due to his lower status as a driver.
Third, they managed to save Schumacher, but not Bianchi.
Fourth, it was really hard to see Coletti race and crash in the Indycar race at New Hampshire.

Overall, a shocking and tragic event.

There was a movie about Formula 1 racing, and the title is eluding me. I do remember that they guy who plays Thor in the movies is in it, though. 
Anyway, there held a vote due to unsafe racing conditions, and they went on ahead after enough racers decided to race. The consequence was that the other main racer got seriously hurt. 

I could be mixing up scenes, but it was based on a real movie. I think it took place in the 60s? The movie is only a few years old. 


But yes, I agree. I think sheltered cockpits, with an eject button to get them out if need be, would be a great idea. I get that they have open air cockpits because that is their thing that makes them different, and they don't want to change up too many things. But, at the same time, It think adding them would be the best option here. 
Also, maybe adding some set guidelines would be a great idea. For example, if a storm is expected to pass through during the events of the race,and it is expected to rain / snow / etc so many inches, then postpone the race. 
I understand the fact that people spend lots of money to go to these things. That is why people get rain checks if it... ( Wait for it... ) RAINS!!! 

thing1 : That sounds like Rush. Yeah, I think that the fact that they have rain tires goes to their heads. They think that with rain tires, they can race in any conditions. Which is unfortunate, and is one of the reasons I can be glad when NASCAR calls a race for rain, usually to prevent accident and serous injury.

Hidden Phantom : Thank you. 

the movie I was thinking of is indeed Rush. But, like I said in my last post here, there should be some kind of regulation. For example, oh, it's sprinkling a little bit? Alright, go ahead and race. Oh, it's storming? Stop the race. Oh, it's just a bit a rain? Alright, use rain tires. 

Like, I'm not saying that is should be done just like I said. I was just showing when you could race and when you couldn't race as examples. 
Also, if there is say... more than 1 or 2 inches of rain expected, then that is too much, and the race should be postponed. ( I actually don't know how much is too much. I was just throwing out a number ) 

thing1 : The problem about sheltered cockpits was clearly shown in Rush. If, by any chance, the driver gets caught in a fire, or the car is upside down, the solution becomes an even greater problem.

Hidden Phantom : NASCAR calls a race for rain because an oval race track cannot be raced under the rain, due to the banking. Plus, oval tracks usually have no braking points excluding the pit entry, so one more reason to not race under those conditions.

F1 does have rain tyres, however they almost never use them, because heavy rain calls for the Safety Car until the conditions are good enough. In Suzuka, there was so much confusion because the rain was intermittent, the start was postponed for like half an hour, and in the midst of the race there was a red flag for 20 minutes. They were unsure if they should race, lap after the Safety Car, stop the race or commit suicide, and ended up doing none of the mentioned choices, with fatal results.

EX Palen : What scene are you talking about when you say " clearly shown in Rush " ? 
I mean, I can understand upside down. But, I did say having an ejector button. NASCAR does... they have a flap in the roof ( I THINK ) and then the netted window to get out if they get trapped. 

thing1 : Instead of using NASCAR as an example, you should use IndyCar. Just for one reason: type of car. NASCAR are production-derived cars, while IndyCar (and F1) are single seater prototypes built exclusively for racing without any base.

The scene I'm talking about is obvious: Lauda's incident. He got trapped in the cockpit while the car set on fire, leaving him scarred for life. 

F1 will never have a closed cockpit, I can tell you. It would be such a major redesign in the cars that they will hardly consider it. If you want to quote Rush even more, Lauda said this: 20% risk, not a 1% more. I think that open cockpits nowadays represent that 20% Lauda exposed in the 70's.

EX Palen : I figured that was the one you were talking about. I was just trying to remember if there was rain in that scene too or not.