F1 reconvenes in a sombre mood in Sochi as thoughts remain with Jules Bianchi
"We race for him," says Adrian Sutil; Felipe Massa describes Suzuka race as "worst in my career"; Sergio Perez brands accident as "unacceptable"; Marussia yet to announce if they will run two cars
Friday 17 October 2014 17:50, UK
Four days on from Jules Bianchi's horror crash at Suzuka, the drivers and the rest of the F1 fraternity were understandably in reflective mood as the sport reconvened for the Russian GP.
Sunday's race is the first grand prix to be held in Russia and the facilities at the Sochi Autodrom - brand new, state-of-the-art and built on the site of the 2014 Winter Olympic Park - appear hugely impressive.
Yet as Adrian Sutil, whose own accident in Japan was one of a number of factors that conspired against Bianchi, pointed out, the Black Sea resort has been cast under a "grey cloud" this weekend.
F1 has moved on, but only geographically. The sport's thoughts remain focused on Bianchi, still critically ill at Mie General Medical Centre in Yokkaichi, and the lessons to be learnt from his terrifying and life-threatening crash.
“I haven’t slept very well since that and my thoughts are with him. But I know that if he could say something right now, he’d say, ‘Hey guys, come on. You’ve a grand prix to achieve. Go for it’," said Lotus driver Romain Grosjean, a compatriot of Bianchi. “I’m in love with Formula 1; I’m in love with racing. I know Jules is as well.”
Marussia confirmed ahead of opening practice that, despite receiving permission to field reserve Alexander Rossi this weekend, only Max Chilton will race. Poignantly, Bianchi's name and helmet design still appears above the team's garage.
All of the drivers are expected to run with a message of support for their stricken colleague on their cars this weekend. The show will go on, but only with the field dedicating their efforts to the 25-year-old Frenchman. "We race for him," declared Sutil.
The Sauber driver appeared in Thursday's official press conference alongside Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa and Daniil Kvyat, with each trying their hardest to come to terms with the sort of eventuality that F1 has, thankfully, rarely witnessed in recent years.
"When there is a big, big accident there are no words to describe how bad you can feel," said Alonso. "It was a tough, tough weekend and right now we are here, but it will be a difficult weekend again – emotionally very difficult. We are ready to race and to race for him and be as professional as we can, but definitely my mind is with him in this moment and praying for him.”
Perhaps the most moving words came from Massa, whose own life had hung in the balance after his qualifying crash in Hungary in 2009.
“For me, it [Suzuka] was the worst the race of my life," the Brazilian said. "It was a really bad race and worse than the race of my accident as I didn’t remember that anyway.
"It is so difficult as every day you are just thinking about Jules and it will be a very difficult weekend for all of us."
In general, drivers avoided knee-jerk reactions when asked about the circumstances surrounding Bianchi's crash: the lack of Safety Car after Sutil's shunt the previous lap; the presence of the tractor removing the German's Sauber which the Marussia slammed into; the risk of racing in wet conditions, not to mention the question of whether they slow sufficiently for double-waved yellow flags.
With the FIA launching an investigation, the hope was expressed that safety improvements might be made. Yet more than anything, there was acknowledgement of Bianchi's sheer misfortune.
"Difficult conditions leave a very small margin for error," said Vettel. "Obviously [for] Jules at that time it was too small and on top of that very unlucky circumstances led into a catastrophe really.
“If something happens there’s always the chance to learn something for next time and probably avoid these things from happening. But also you need to understand or see that with the cars we race, the speeds we travel, accidents can happen.
"Extremely unlucky circumstances led into much more than just the usual type of crash we see when you lose control of the car.”
Not every driver toed the line, however, with a furious Sergio Perez telling reporters: “I want to hear an explanation from the FIA. We will make sure they will hear us because what happened on Sunday is totally unacceptable. The accident could have been avoided."
Last Saturday, the mood in the Suzuka paddock couldn’t have been more different as it reverberated to the bombshell that Vettel was leaving Red Bull. It’s the sort of story F1 revels in, to the extent that qualifying seemed reduced to sideshow status.
Certainly, Alonso had been on a hiding to nothing as his attempts to sell P5 on the grid to the assembled journalists were met with complete indifference. Naturally, everybody wanted to know about his future whereabouts.
There was another interested observer as the Spaniard tried his hardest to say as little as possible: Bianchi. Touted as a Ferrari driver himself in the long-term, he stood at a safe distance from the throng, ate an ice-cream and, perhaps, picked up a couple of tips in the art of media management.
Five days can seem an awfully long time. And for now, the news on the futures of Alonso, Vettel, Button and co. will have to wait.
"We are here, we are at a new circuit and we have to be professional. But it is not easy to focus because it looks so unimportant when someone has this difficulty,” reflected Sutil. “For me, the picture of him with the truck was a shocking moment, but I think every driver has their mind with him.”
