Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa say it's impossible not to think back to tragic events of 2014 when Bianchi suffered fatal injuries
Tuesday 29 September 2015 10:48, UK
The minds of the F1 paddock are with the memory of Jules Bianchi this weekend on the sport's first return to Suzuka since the Frenchman's fatal accident last October.
In July, Bianchi succumbed to the serious head injuries he sustained in the crash after spending nine months in a coma. In a rain-hit Japanese GP last year, the Frenchman's Marussia car collided with a recovery vehicle after running off the road in treacherous conditions.
"It is an emotional weekend," said McLaren's Fernando Alonso, a close friend of Bianchi's after their spell together at Ferrari. "It is the first time we have come to the paddock after leaving last year with some worries and some unknown situations for Jules when he left in the helicopter."
"I left the paddock last year going to the hospital and spent the night, so definitely when I came back today it was a strange feeling in the paddock. It will be a strange weekend, but we try to do our best to show him respect."
Williams' Felipe Massa, who shared the same manager as Bianchi and also worked with the popular Frenchman at Ferrari, said he would be racing this weekend in his memory.
"It's impossible to be here and not think about what happened one year ago with Jules," Massa said. "Apart from being a great driver he was a very nice guy. I will be thinking about him definitely and trying to do a good race for him."
In the wake of F1's own changes to its safety protocols over the last 12 months - most notably the creation of the Virtual Safety Car - the Suzuka circuit has made a number of improvements for this weekend's race. In a bid to improve drainage around the figure-of-eight track, porous asphalt strips and 'U' drains on the edges of corners have been added - including at Turn Seven, where Bianchi crashed.
Both Massa and Alonso agree that F1 has learnt necessary lessons from last October. "Now it's safer, especially for what happened on that moment," Massa said. "That type of accident will be more difficult to see again because we have the Virtual Safety Car. Also, I believe we will never see a tractor on the track in normal racing, especially when you are just with the yellow flag.
"It is already much different than how it was with Jules. Unfortunately, it's too late for what's happened to him, but hopefully early for other accidents. It is much better now compared to what it was."
Sky Sports F1's Anthony Davidson believes it was vital that F1 learnt from last year's tragic incident.
"The Virtual Safety Car was something that was born out of a terrible situation. It was important that it moved on and came up with a solution," the WEC champion said.
"That is why Formula 1 is great - the most innovative sport, or motor racing series out there, and they have the money to do it. From such a disastrous situation, something new was born and that was important. It had to change. If we had that back then, today would have been a different situation, he would still have been here.
"You have to always learn from situations and I feel the sport did learn from that day last year and we now have a very good system in place with the virtual safety car. It is something other series are envious of."
The Bianchi family, meanwhile, have spoken of the pain they are still feeling three months after Jules passed away. Father Philippe has told the French media that he finds it "unbearable" to watch F1 races since his son's accident.
