The family of Jules Bianchi is taking legal action against motorsport's governing body, the Marussia team and Formula One Management following the French driver's death from head injuries.
last July, Bianchi died after a long battle to recover from head injuries sustained in a head-on collision at the Japanese GP in October 2014. He was 25. Bianchi's accident at Suzuka occurred at the end of the race in rainy, gloomy conditions, when his Marussia car slid off track and hit a crane picking up the Sauber of German driver Adrian Sutil, who had crashed at the same spot one lap earlier.
An investigation by FIA into the crash determined that a number of factors — the difficult racing conditions, Bianchi's elevated speed, and the presence of a crane — all contributed to the accident.
But Stewarts law, a litigation-only law firm, said in a statement on Thursday it has sent formal pre-action letters of claim to FIA, Marussia and FOM challenging these assertions. "Jules Bianchi's death was avoidable. The FIA Panel Inquiry Report into this accident made numerous recommendations to improve safety in Formula One but failed to identify where errors had been made which led to Jules' death," said Stewarts law partner Julian Chamberlayne, who is representing Bianchi's family. "It was surprising and distressing to the Bianchi family that the FIA panel in its conclusions, whilst noting a number of contributing factors, blamed Jules. The Bianchi family are determined that this legal process should require those involved to provide answers and to take responsibility for any failings."
He was the first driver to die of injuries sustained in an F1 race since three-time world champion Ayrton Senna was killed at the 1994 San Marino GP, where Roland Ratzenberger also died during qualifying.
"We seek justice for Jules, and want to establish the truth about the decisions that led to our son's crash at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2014," Jules' father, Philippe Bianchi, said in the statement.