Sad day for the sport and the team says Lowdon

Some will question, as they did following the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Aryton Senna whether Formula One should continue so soon after Bianchi’s passing.

But Manor Marussia president and sporting director Graeme Lowdon believes that the late Jules Bianchi, who died on Saturday, would want both the team and Formula One to continue.

‘Jules had very many friends in the paddock and it’ll be a sombre place but he was a racer and I know he would want to see the team continue and the sport continue as well,’ Lowdon told the BBC.

‘It’s a very sad day for the sport and the team. It’s a real shock to lose a team-mate in such a way. It’s been really terrible for everyone.

‘Our heart goes out to Jules’s family. He’s from an extremely loving family and it’s terrible they’ve had to go through this.’

Bianchi crashed during the Japanese Grand Prix on a wet Suzuka circuit in October 2014.

At the age of 25, nine months after sustaining brain injuries, he died after never waking up from a coma.

Bianchi is the first Formula One driver to have been killed from injuries suffered during a race weekend since the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix where Ratzenberger and three-time Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna were killed.

His death also follows Maria de Villota who died 14 months after sustaining serious head injuries in a crash whilst straight-line testing for Marussia.