French F1 driver Jules Bianchi is dead

French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi died Friday night from head injuries he suffered in a crash at last October's Japanese Grand Prix, his family said.

"Jules fought right to the very end, as he always did, but today his battle came to an end," the Bianchi family said in a statement posted on Facebook Saturday.

Bianchi, who would have been 26 next month, had been in a coma fighting for his life under controlled medical conditions in the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire hospital in his home city of Nice.

On Monday, his father Pierre said he was "less optimistic" that Jules would make a full recovery after spending nine months in hospital with no signs of "significant progress".

The Bianchi family on Saturday thanked "everyone who has demonstrated their affection for him over these past months, which gave us great strength and helped us deal with such difficult times" and asked for privacy while they grieved.

Bianchi joined the Marussia team in 2013 and raced in 34 Grands Prix, notching two world championship points, before being injured in a collision with a rescue vehicle in Japan.
Source: AFP