Marussia asks for Bianchi patience

Jules Bianchi, who was rushed to hospital in Yokkaichi following his F1 crash at Suzuka circuit on Sunday, was "critical but stable" one day later, the sport's governing body said on Monday.

"It should be understood that it is very, very serious," a spokesman for FIA (International Automobile Federation), Matteo Bonciani, told journalists.

Bianchi underwent emergency surgery for severe head injuries after crashing in heavy rain into a recovery vehicle, which was already deployed near the barriers trying to remove another car that had gone off at the same spot two laps earlier.

Bianchi's Marussia Formula One team on Monday said that it "would like to acknowledge the huge outpouring of support and affection for Jules and the team at this very difficult time." Marussia said it would abide by the Bianchi family's wishes in providing updates on the driver's condition.

"Therefore, we would ask for patience and understanding with regard to further medical updates, which will be communicated in conjunction with Mie General Medical Center in Yokkaichi, where Jules is being treated, when they feel it is appropriate," the team statement said.

The parents of Jules Bianchi, Philippe and Christine, arrived at the hospital on Monday, while Marussia said that representatives of its team and Ferrari were both staying with the French driver. Bianchi is a product of Ferrari's young driver program; the Italian outfit sells Marussia its engines.

Safety back in spotlight

Questions were asked following Bianchi's crash about safety aspects in the sport, on issues ranging from the race's start time, to when it's appropriate to deploy recovery vehicles, and the longstanding debate on whether F1 needs closed cockpits to better protect drivers' heads.

"I can't really fault any of the people involved, the marshals, or the race director, or any of those people. I think everything was done as it should have been," former FIA President Max Mosley told Sky Sports News. "For anybody to get hurt in modern Formula One, several things have to go wrong at once - a little bit like the aviation industry."

F1 has not suffered a fatal crash at a race event since the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, when Austrian Roland Ratzenberger was killed in qualifying on the Saturday and then Brazilian three-time world champion Ayrton Senna died in the race itself.

Senna died of head injuries, and many of Formula One's most serious injuries since have involved impacts with the drivers' heads. Despite major improvements in helmet and neck brace systems, questions remain about the possibility of a cockpit covering this exposed area. Felipe Massa suffered major injuries at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2009 when a spring, which had fallen off a competitor's car, hit him in the helmet. Henry Surtees was killed in the junior Formula Two series in 2011 when a loose wheel from another car hit his head. And Marussia's former development driver Maria de Villota lost an eye and suffered other major head injuries when she crashed into a team truck at a 2012 test session; she died a year later of cardiac arrest.

Bianchi was elected the best rookie of the 2013 season, despite driving a car that is well off the pace. He has consistently and sometimes dramatically outpaced teammate Max Chilton over the past two seasons, and is considered a possible future Ferrari driver.

The F1 grid is packing up to depart for the inaugural Russian Grand Prix in Sochi next weekend. The race qualifies almost as a home race for the Oxfordshire-based, Russian-owned Marussia team.

msh/al (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)