PARIS
French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi has lost his life due to severe head injuries sustained in last year's Japanese Grand Prix, his family said Saturday.
"Jules fought right to the very end, as he always did, but today his battle came to an end. The pain we feel is immense and indescribable,” the family said in a statement.
The 25-year-old driver died in a hospital in Nice in the south of France.
He had been in a coma since he had been involved in an accident at Suzuka circuit last October.
During the race, Bianchi lost control of his car which hurtled off the track and hit the back of a recovery vehicle being used to tow away Sauber F1 team driver Adrian Sutil's car, which had hit the barriers.
Bianchi was racing for Marussia, a British motor racing team. He was also a member of the Ferrari young driver academy.
The team said Saturday in its Twitter account: "We are devastated to lose Jules after such a hard-fought battle. It was a privilege to have him race for our team."
The French driver was the first Formula One driver to pass away from injuries sustained during a race since Brazilian triple world champion Ayrton Senna was killed in Italy's Imola circuit in 1994.
