Charles Leclerc pays emotional tribute to Jules Bianchi, 10 years on

On the 10th anniversary of Jules Bianchi’s death, Charles Leclerc and Graeme Lowdon paid a moving tribute to the former F1 driver. The former Marussia F1 driver died two weeks before what would have been his 26th birthday.

Bianchi, who was racing for Marussia at the time, suffered an unusual accident at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka in 2014. The French driver, who had chosen Leclerc as his godson, crashed into an emergency vehicle at the rain-affected event in Japan’s Mie prefecture.

While Bianchi was quickly attended to by the Formula 1 safety team and subsequently rushed to hospital, the 25-year-old had suffered a diffuse axonal brain injury, leaving him unconscious – a condition from which he sadly never recovered.

Jules, forever in our hearts. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/AMdINgMlLY

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 17, 2025

Paying tribute to the former F1 driver, Leclerc, in a letter on the official Formula 1 website, described how much he admired Bianchi and shared some of his most treasured memories.

“I admired him, so racing with him, with my older brother, with his younger brother and many other professional kart drivers at the time was incredible. We were having so much fun. We’d wait for the karting track to close to the public so we could get on. Then we’d go crazy on the track for hours and hours.”

“Those are probably the most special memories I have. Jules was the most competitive person I’ve ever met, and I feel I have that competitiveness in me because of Jules. When we raced in karting, there was that competitiveness, but also in the silliest things we did at home, there was exactly the same competitiveness. He got so frustrated when he lost anything!”

Graeme Lowdon pays tribute to Jules Bianchi

Graeme Lowdon pays tribute to former F1 driver Jules Bianchi

The Scuderia Ferrari driver wasn’t the only individual to take the time to reminisce about his time with the late Bianchi, as former Manor Motorsports team CEO Graeme Lowdon also reflected on his time with the Nice native. The 60-year-old motorsport businessman recounted his reaction to the incident in an interview with Planet F1.

“I never saw him again, never watched the TV coverage. It’s strange the things you remember,” Lowdon said.

“I remember it was much darker in reality than it looked on TV, much darker. The conditions were much worse than they looked. I remember the fact that there was no medical helicopter. I remember driving to the hospital. We couldn’t get into the circuit medical center, which isn’t unusual, actually. And I’m not a doctor, so I’m not essential.”

Sadly, eight months after the accident, Bianchi died in a local hospital in Nice. His accident in Japan ushered in a new era of safety in Formula 1 with the introduction of the Halo cockpit protection device to the sport.

Source Article : https://www.gpblog.com/fr/actualites/charles-leclerc-rend-hommage-avec-emotion-a-jules-bianchi-10-ans-apres