It is today exactly one month since the horrible accident of Jules Bianchi. Even though the future isn't looking too bright for the young Frenchman I keep hoping for some good news. The picture I have with him has become much more valuable for me the last few weeks. In a way it’s a reminder of a better time and only now I fully realize how much that Thursday at Monza means to me.
I haven't met that many F1-drivers but from the ones I have, Jules Bianchi was by far the nicest. It was Thursday at the Italian GP at Monza in 2012. Even though I'm a diehard Ferrari fan, I knew it was impossible to get even close to the Ferrari box. On top of that Kimi "The Iceman" Räikkönen, who is still one of my favorites and my fellow Belgian Jerôme d'Ambrosio were the driver line-up for the Lotus team that weekend (Remember, Grosjean was banned after his incident in Spa). So I decided to go the Lotus box and try to get some autographs over there.
Next to the
Lotus pit box was the Force India box, but it weren’t their drivers Paul di Resta
or Nico Hulkenberg who were the first ones to come out and meet the fans. No,
it was their reserve driver Jules Bianchi, who would drive the Friday morning
test session. Not everybody recognized the young chap that seemed to be a
driver. (Fun fact: I heard someone first very excited asking Bianchi for an
autograph and when he got it, he turned to the person next to him and asked
"who is this guy?!") I did recognize him because Jules was part of
the Ferrari Drivers Academy and hey, I know my own team. I also had seen
updates from him over the last years in the World Championship by
Renault so I knew pretty much who he was. I was a bit further down the pit lane,
at Lotus, but Bianchi took his time to meet lots of fans. So when he was at
hearing distance I yelled his name and he turned his head, surprised that there someone that excited to see him. The picture on the right is the
one I took then and you can almost see him thinking "who is yelling my
name over there?”. Maybe not and it's just a coincidence he's looking my way but I still love that picture, even more now. 
Bianchi
kept giving autographs to everybody and when he was finally close enough I got
mine and hey, now that he was there, I ask for a picture as well. "Of
course!” he said with a smile on his face. So I had my picture with this young
chap who one day might become a F1 champion. I was thrilled and I remember
I kept saying the next day, when Bianchi was driving the Force India, "I met that
guy! I have a picture and autograph of him! How insane is it that yesterday he
was next to me and today he is driving a Formula 1 car around Monza!” Oh yes, I
was very excited every time he passed us.
I think
it's pretty clear that after Monza 2012, Jules Bianchi gained another fan. So
when he got a seat at Marussia the next year, I was extremely happy for him.
He deserved it, he's a great driver. If you can finish ninth with a Marussia at
Monaco, you can drive for sure. But on top of that he's a nice guy, always with
a smile on his face. I can imagine driving at Marussia isn't that fun at times
but he was always positive and was building his way to the top and maybe get
himself a seat at Ferrari someday.
Now however
everything is unclear but the chance to ever see him racing again is very
small. But who cares about racing, all that matters is that we want him to be
ok. To wake up. I keep struggling with the idea that the smiley chap I met in
Monza is now fighting for his life. Only five years older than me and already
fighting for his life. Every single day I keep hoping that we will get some
good news and even though staying positive is getting harder day by day, I
won't stop hoping. I can't. He has to win his most important battle. I don't
want to think about another outcome. I can’t deal with thinking about that. It might
sound naïf to keep holding onto such a small amount of hope but that's all I
can do right now. Positive vibes only. Forza Jules!
Catya Leroux
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