Bianchi’s father ‘less optimistic’ about son’s recovery

Jules Bianchi’s father, Philippe, has admitted he is now “less optimistic” that his son will make any sort of recovery, nine months after his Japanese Grand Prix crash.

The Frenchman has been in a coma since the accident took place and whilst there have been some signs of recovery, such as his ability to breath without the aid of a machine, there has been very little change recently.

Philippe Bianchi has described the wait as “daily torture” and says the lack of updates makes him “less optimistic”, because recovering from such an injury normally requires significant improvement within the first six months, which hasn’t happened in this case.

“It’s unbearable, it’s a daily torture,” he told France Info on Monday. “It sometimes feels [like we’re going] crazy, because for me, it certainly is more terrible than if he had died in the accident because we don’t have the power to help him more than we are.

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“The time passes and I am now less optimistic than I may have been two or three months after the crash, when we could hope for a better outcome.

“It’s hard to get up in the morning, knowing that you are not sure if your son will be alive and every day it’s like that. At some point, you need to have your feet on the ground and realise how serious the situation is.”

If Jules were to emerge from his coma, it’s likely he would face severe disabilities as a result, something his father says he discussed with Jules following Michael Schumacher’s skiing accident.

“If he has huge disabilities, we’re convinced this is not at all what Jules would want,” he said.

“We talked about it. He told us that if he were to have an accident similar to Michael Schumacher, if he were even just not to be able to drive anymore, it would be very hard for him to accept it. Because it was his life.”