Jules Bianchi

Jules Lucien André Bianchi (French pronunciation: [ʒyl bjɑ̃ki]; 3 August 1989 – 17 July 2015) was a French racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2013 to 2014.

Born and raised in Nice, Bianchi was the grandson of endurance racing driver Mauro Bianchi and the great-nephew of Formula One driver Lucien Bianchi. Graduating from karting to junior formulae in 2007, Bianchi won his first title at the 2007 French Formula Renault 2.0 Championship with SG Formula. After winning the 2008 Masters of Formula 3, Bianchi won the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2009 with ART. He then progressed to the GP2 Series, finishing third in both 2010 and 2011. Bianchi then finished runner-up to Robin Frijns in the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series.

A member of the Ferrari Driver Academy since 2009, Bianchi was a test driver for Ferrari in 2011 and a reserve driver for Force India in 2012. Bianchi signed for Marussia in 2013 alongside Max Chilton, making his Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix. Retaining his seat for 2014, Bianchi scored his first championship points at the Monaco Grand Prix—finishing ninth after starting 21st on the grid—earning widespread acclaim from drivers and pundits.

During the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, Bianchi lost control of his Marussia MR03 in very wet conditions and collided with a recovery vehicle, suffering a diffuse axonal injury. He underwent emergency surgery and was placed into an induced coma, remaining comatose until his death nine months later. The number 17 was retired from Formula One in his honour by the FIA, who mandated the halo cockpit protection device in all open-wheel championships from 2018 onwards. As of the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix, Bianchi remains the most recent fatality in the Formula One World Championship.

Jules Bianchi was born in Nice, France, to Philippe and Christine Bianchi. He had two siblings, and was the godfather of future Formula One driver Charles Leclerc.

Bianchi was the grandson of Mauro Bianchi, who competed in GT racing during the 1960s and three non-championship Formula One Grands Prix in 1961. He was also the grandnephew of Lucien Bianchi, who competed in 19 Formula One Grands Prix between 1959 and 1968 and 13 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans (1956–1968), finishing 1st in Class three times at Le Mans, including the overall win at the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans, before dying during Le Mans testing the following year.

His favourite racing driver was Michael Schumacher.

Bianchi's exposure to motorsport started at around 3 years of age through karting and was facilitated by the fact that his father owned a kart track. Since age 17, Bianchi was professionally managed by Nicolas Todt.