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French F1 driver Jules Bianchi dies from crash injuries

French Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi died Friday night at a hospital in Nice near his parents' home, nine months after suffering from a head injury in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Jules Bianchi died at a hospital in Nice nine months after his accident at the Japanese Grand Prix
Jules Bianchi died at a hospital in Nice nine months after his accident at the Japanese Grand Prix Reuters/Yuya Shino
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"French motorsport has lost one of its greatest hopes," French President Francois Hollande wrote in a statement released after Bianchi’s death at age 25.

Bianchi’s team Marussia, now known as Manor, said the driver had left an "indelible mark on all our lives".

"Words cannot describe the enormous sadness within our team this morning, as we come to terms with losing Jules," a team statement read.

Bianchi is the first driver to perish in a F1 Grand Prix since Ayrton Senna died at San Marino in 1994.

Bianchi went off the rainy track on lap 44 of the 53-lap race and smashed into a crane that was recovering another vehicle.

A working group of the sport's governing body FIA found that as Bianchi went off the track he "applied both throttle and brake together, using both feet", which overrode the fail-safe mechanism. His front wheels had also locked.

It also said that Bianchi "did not slow sufficiently to avoid losing control".

Francois Fillon, a former French prime minister and an F1 fan wrote on Twitter: "A sad and brutal awakening with the cruel news of death @Jules_Bianchi. Jules talent and courage in its purest form. Thoughts for his entourage."

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