At the start of what is bound to be a sombre Hungarian GP weekend, drivers have been sharing their memories of Jules Bianchi.
Most of the grid was present at Bianchi’s funeral earlier this week, nine months after he suffered serious head injuries in a crash at the Japanese GP. And all had personal recollections of the Frenchman, with quite a few having also raced against him as they climbed the ladder to F1.
Countryman Romain Grosjean met him earlier than most. “I think the first time I heard his name was back in 2003,” the Lotus driver said on Thursday. “He was a much better driver in go-karts than I was, he was a bit younger and he followed up in all categories what I did. He won everywhere.
“This week all our thoughts are with him, but personally I’ll never forget that we raced and we’ll race for Jules as well.”
Felipe Massa went so far as to label Bianchi the best go-kart driver he‘s ever seen.
“When I met him, he was still racing go-karts because we have the same manager [Nicolas Todt] and Nicolas started to work with Jules at the end of his go-kart career,” the Brazilian said.
“For me, he was a fantastic boy: very nice, very humble and an amazing driver. Unfortunately in Formula 1, he did not have the opportunity to race in a competitive car and show his talent.”
Referring to the ninth place Bianchi scored for Marussia in last year’s Monaco GP – still their only points finish – he added: “I think he showed it anyway, by finishing in the points in Monaco with the car he was driving. Everybody knows that was an amazing thing he did.
“We did a lot of go-kart racing together and in my experience he was the best go-kart driver I saw.
“It’s not nice to see what’s happened. It was really difficult to be there at the church to understand what’s happened and so sad.
“But I’m sure he’s in a good place now racing and enjoying. And definitely looking here at all of us from whatever place he is.”
With former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo saying they’d lined Bianchi up as a future driver, Sergio Perez’s memories focused on the time they spent together at the Scuderia’s driver academy.
“I met him when we were both doing GP2 but when I really spent more time with him was in the Ferrari academy,” the Mexican said.
“You could see Jules was a very special driver, but also a very special person. Everyone seemed to like him – he was very humble, a great human, and he really made a big impact in the world.
“You know you could be there, it could be your family. I was talking to his father and it’s just very, very difficult for his whole family.
“But his family is our family now. We really want to support them in any way because Jules will stay with us forever.”
Meanwhile, Massa expressed doubt that drivers would change their approach after what was the first F1 fatality in more than 20 years.
The 34-year-old, who suffered serious head injuries during qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian GP, explained: “When you close your visor, you want the best. You want to finish in front and you want to do the best you can. And manoeuvres, overtaking, the way you drive, your thinking…I don’t think it will change.
“When I had my accident here, when I started driving again, always when I passed that place I don’t remember.
“You don’t think about it.”
There will be a minute’s silence for Bianchi ahead of Sunday’s race, in which drivers will each sport a #JB17 logo in his memory.