May 25 2014, the legendary Grand Prix Formula 1 in the streets of Monte Carlo. Nico Rosberg wins ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo. But there is only one undoubtedly driver of the day: Jules Bianchi. The Frenchman finishes 9th in his Marussia and takes the first points back home for his team. A year later and the F1 circus is back in Monaco, but Jules isn't with them. The horrible difference a year can make..Monaco was the perfect example of what Bianchi was capable of. That Marussia wasn't a fast car, not by far. But he did it anyway, he dragged the thing to the finish and when he crossed the line huge celebrations started. It was as if he just became worldchampion instead of finishing 9th. Thinking back at the glorious day makes it even harder to except the current situation of the Frenchman. The young man who was celebrating as if he won the worldtitle just a year ago, has been fighting for his life for months now. It has been over 6 months since his accident at Suzuka but the fact that his situation hasn't improved enormous still hurts. It's a tragic story and another black page in the history book of F1. Bad luck and coincidence is all it took to turn the lives of Jules, his family, friends and fans upside down.
Even over half a year later it still bothers me how some people can say "That's F1!". No, that's not Formula One, that's not racing. It's not normal that we should accept death in the sport. F1 is a risky sport, no doubt about it, but it should not be lethal. In the past it was but that doesn't mean we have to go back to the time we lost 3-5 drivers each season. We have evolved and we will never accept death as part of our sport again. If you do think so, you don't love the sport but you just want excitement.
Back to Monaco and how hard being may be for the Manor (then Marussia) team, there is only one thing they can do to honor Bianchi and that's giving it everything they've got. For their champ. Jules will be in the minds of everyone in the paddock and we'll keep waiting for some good news on his situation. Positive vibes all the way!
#ForzaJules
Catya Leroux
