They will continue to race hard for Bianchi

F1 drivers said their goodbyes at Jules Bianchi’s funeral in France on Tuesday and vowed to race hard for him this weekend in Hungary.

Bianchi died at the age of 25 last week, nine months after sustaining brain injuries at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Whilst racing for Marussia he suffered a diffuse axonal brain injury and never awoke from a coma.

Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean and Jean-Eric Vergne were among the pall-bearers who carried Bianchi?s coffin from the cathedral, whilst Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg and Williams driver Valtteri Bottas also attended.

‘Saying goodbye to Jules was incredibly hard for everyone, For myself, I wished I had known him better. But from what I knew of him, he was a kind heart with a great spirit and a bright future. said the reigning Formula One World Champion during a Mercedes preview for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Formula One paddock will continue to mourn together this weekend as they prepare for the race, the last race before the summer break.

Bianchi was 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 Roland Ratzenberger and three-time Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna were killed.

Hamilton added: ‘Now our sport embarks on a tough road ahead. We have been shown once more the dangers of our sport, that these should be respected and that we drivers commit ourselves to the chance that those dangers are there when we step into the car.’

‘We have made great progress for safety thus far and I know that the FIA will continue to make steps forward to improve even further,’

So despite the dangers, Formula One, like it always has will carry on.

‘I know he’d want us to race hard as he did, and so I will,’ Hamilton concluded.

That message was echoed by Rosberg who added: ‘It has been a very emotional week, The drivers paid our final respects to Jules and said farewell. He was a very talented driver and a good guy. My thoughts in these days are with his family and close friends.

‘Everyone will be sharing the same feelings in the paddock this week – but we must race on and race hard for Jules as he would have wanted to be doing himself.’

The FIA have announced that the number 17 will be retired in honour of Jules Bianchi and Hungaroring race organisers have confirmed that a minute’s silence will be held before Sunday’s race.