22 July,2015 07:51 AM IST | | AFP
Formula One fraternity turns out in full force to pay their last respects to 25-year-old Bianchi, who died on Friday after his ninth-month battle for life since the devastating crash at Japanese Grand Prix
French F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne puts his arm around Brazilian ace Felipe Massa (in shades) as they stand with other friends and relatives near F1 driver Jules Bianchi's coffin at the funeral in Nice yesterday
Nice (France): Formula One turned out in force yesterday to pay its last respects to Jules Bianchi at the 25-year-old French driver's funeral in his hometown of Nice.
French F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne puts his arm around Brazilian ace Felipe Massa (in shades) as they stand with other friends and relatives near F1 driver Jules Bianchi's coffin at the funeral in Nice yesterday. Pics/AFP
World champion Lewis Hamilton and many of Bianchi's pitlane colleagues joined family and friends of the talented young Marussia driver who died in Nice on Friday, nine months after his devastating accident at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Two giant portraits of Bianchi in full racing gear adorned the walls either side of the cathedral's main entrance. His coffin, with his No 17 helmet resting on it, was carried from the hearse into the cathedral by a group of young drivers, described by Father Sylvain Brison as Bianchi's "racing brothers".
Lewis Hamilton at Bianchi's funeral yesterday
With The Eagles' haunting 1970s anthem "Hotel California" playing in the background, the coffin was carried up the cathedral's central aisle.
Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, who had made the short trip from their homes in Monaco, as well as Jean Todt, head of F1's governing body, the FIA, and the French Sports Minister Thierry Braillard, were in attendance.
'He was happy'
"Jules' death is deeply unjust," Father Brison told the mourners in the Sainte-Reparate Cathedral situated in Nice's historic old town. "He was happy, because he had turned his dream into reality."
An emotional Sebastian Vettel hugs Bianchi's father Philippe
He concluded the service by saying: "Jules never managed to make it on to the Formula One podium, and so I ask you to applaud him now," which the emotional gathering, both inside and outside the cathedral, duly did for several minutes. The service ended with the playing of the tender 1980s classic hit "Mistral Gagnant" by French singer Renaud.
Sebastian Vettel, the four-time former world champion, helped carry the coffin out of the cathedral in a poignant reminder that if fate had not cruelly intervened Bianchi would have joined the German as Kimi Raikkonen's replacement at Ferrari next season.
Alain Prost
Bianchi was the first Formula One driver to die as a result of a racing accident since triple world champion Ayrton Senna in San Marino in 1994.
And Senna's arch-rival, Alain Prost, was among the mourners saying goodbye to Bianchi as were Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa and Olivier Panis.
Nico Rosberg arrives for the funeral
Bianchi suffered a traumatic brain injury when his car careered off the rain-drenched Suzuka circuit during the Japanese Grand Prix on October 5 and smashed into a recovery truck at around 200 kilometres (125 miles) an hour.
He had been fighting for his life since under controlled medical conditions in a Nice hospital.
