The father of Jules Bianchi says he is now "less optimistic" over the chances of his son Jules recovering from the injuries sustained at last year's Japanese Grand Prix, and has described the situation as "daily torture".
Bianchi, who drove for Manor Marussia last year, remains in a coma in a Nice hospital nine months after suffering a severe head injury when he collided with a recovery vehicle during the Suzuka race.
Bianchi's family remain at his bedside, but Philippe Bianchi, Jules's father says there has been little progress.
"It's unbearable, it's a daily torture," Philippe Bianchi told radio station France Info.
"We sometimes feel like we're going crazy, because for me, it's certainly more terrible than if he had died, as we're not able to help him more than we can.
"In general, progress must be made in the first six months; it's been nine months and Jules is still not awake and there is no significant progress.
"Time goes by and I'm now less optimistic than I may have been two or three months after the crash, when we could hope for a better evolution.
"At some point, you need to be well-grounded and realise how serious the situation is."
Philippe added that should Jules wake up from his coma, new complications could arise, as he remembers a conversation the pair had following Michael Schumacher's skiing accident at the end of 2013.
"If he finds himself with huge disabilities, we're sure it's not at all what he would want," he said.
"We had talked about it. He told us that if he were to have an accident similar to Michael Schumacher's, if he were even just not able to drive anymore, it would be very hard for him to accept, as it was his life."
Philippe also reiterated his appreciation to fans around the world for their continued messages.
"We apologise because we cannot respond to everyone, but we receive the support," he went on to explain. "It gives us enormous energy and it certainly gives tremendous energy to Jules."
Review of the round nine of the 2015 MotoGP season at Sachsenring, in Eastern Germany.
In the MotoGP race (V-twin, V4, or Inline-four 1000cc four stroke class), that was won by Repsol Honda Team rider and current MotoGP champion Marc Márquez on his works Honda RC213V. Second place was the other Repsol Honda Team rider Dani Pedrosa on his works Honda RC213V to complete a Honda one-two finish, he was two seconds behind Márquez at the end. While, third place was the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi on his works Yamaha YZR-M1, he was five and half a seconds behind Márquez at the end.
In Open class (Full control ECU system, hardware and software), Avintia Racing rider Héctor Barberá won Open class and finished thirteenth place overall on his open spec Ducati Desmosedici GP14, he was forty-eight seconds behind Márquez at the end of the race.
In the Moto2 race (Inline-four 600 cc four-stroke class), that race was won by Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Team rider Xavier Siméon on the Kalex. Second was Ajo Motorsport rider Johann Zarco on the Kalex, he was eight tenths of a second behind Siméon at the end. While, third was Paginas Amarillas HP 40 rider Álex Rins on the Kalex, he was one and half a second behind Siméon at the end of the race.
While in the Moto3 race (single-cylinder 250 cc four-stroke class), that race was won by Leopard Racing rider Danny Kent on the Honda. Second was Leopard Racing rider Efrén Vázquez on the Honda, he was seven seconds behind Kent at the end. While, third was Gresini Racing Team Moto3 rider Enea Bastianini on the Honda, he was nine seconds behind Kent at the end.
It was confirmed yesterday (8/7/15) that Aprilia Racing Team Gresini and Marco Melandri have parted ways by mutual consent with immediate effect.
Melandri returned to MotoGP with Aprilia for 2015 after a few years in the World Superbikes Championship. But, Melandri has struggled to make an impact on his return to MotoGP, without a point so far this season. And not even close matching the pace of former team-mate Álvaro Bautista who has so far scored 11 points this season with the Aprilia RS-GP, which made the decision easier for Aprilia to release the former 250cc Champion.
While, former Paul Bird Motorsport rider and current Aprilia test-rider Michael Laverty has been confirmed as Marco Melandri's replacement at the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini squad for the remainder of the MotoGP season. And will start riding at this weekends MotoGP German round at the Sachsenring.
Recap of the last round of WRC from last weekends Round seven of Rally Poland.
Last weekends was the seventh round of the World Rally Championship at the Rally Poland (3rd-5th July), and was won by current WRC champion Sébastien Ogier in the works Volkswagen Polo R WRC. While, team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen finished second in the other works Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Mikkelsen was 12 seconds behind Ogier at the end. Meanwhile, Ott Tänak, finished in third place in the M-Sport World Rally Team, Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Tänak was 23 seasons behind Ogier at the end.
Meanwhile in WRC-2 class (Group R5, R4, Super 2000 and Group N4 spec cars), that was won by Esapekka Lappi in the Škoda Motorsport Team, Škoda Fabia R5. Esapekka Lappi finished in twelfth place overall, he was 6 minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
While in WRC-3 class (Group R1, R2 and R3 cars) that was won by Simone Tempestini in his own backed Citroën DS3 R3T. Simone Tempestini finished in twenty-sixth place overall, he was over 21 minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
Review of the ninth round of the 2015 F1 season at Silverstone, Northamptonshire, for the British Grand Prix.
Overall, I thought it was an entertaining race to watch, possibly the best race of the race of the season so far. And overall, a dominating race weekend for Mercedes, dominating in practice, dominating in qualifying, and most importantly dominating in the race for Mercedes driver and current Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton was on pole for Sunday's race. And despite losing to both Williams drivers' at the start, Hamilton thought back and retook the lead at the first pits-stops. Hamilton could have lost the race to team-mate Nico Rosberg when the rain started. But, he pitted for intermediate tyres at the right time to conclude with a race win in this seasons British Grand Prix for his fifth race win of the season.
While, Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg finished second place in the Mercedes to give the team its sixth one-two finish of the season, Rosberg was eleven seconds behind Hamilton at the end.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel finished in third place in the Ferrari to complete the podium, Vettel was twenty-five seconds behind Hamilton at the end of the fifty-two lap race.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 9
Lewis Hamilton - 10 (pole, race win, and fastest lap)
Nico Rosberg - 8 (finished second)
Red Bull Racing - 6
Daniel Ricciardo - 5 (DNF, Power unit)
Daniil Kvyat - 8 (finished sixth, lap down)
Williams - 7
Valtteri Bottas - 7 (finished fifth)
Felipe Massa - 8 (finished fourth)
Ferrari - 6
Sebastian Vettel - 7 (finished third)
Kimi Räikkönen - 6 (finished eighth, lap down)
McLaren - 6
Jenson Button - 5 (DNF, Collision with Fernando Alonso)
Fernando Alonso - 7 (finished tenth, lap down)
Force India - 7
Nico Hülkenberg - 8 (finished seventh)
Sergio Pérez - 6 (finished ninth, lap down)
Toro Rosso - 5
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 6 (DNF, Power unit)
Max Verstappen - 5 (DNF, Spun off)
Lotus - 5
Romain Grosjean - 5 (DNF, Collision with Pastor Maldonado)
Pastor Maldonado - 6 (DNF, Collision with Daniil Kvyat)
Manor - 6
Will Stevens - 6 (finished thirteenth, three laps down)
Roberto Merhi - 7 (finished twelfth, three laps down)
Sauber - 5
Marcus Ericsson - 6 (finished eleventh, lap down)
Felipe Nasr - 5 (DNS, Gearbox)
Next stop Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix in three weeks time.
Something I did for last time out at the Austrian Grand Prix from my Twitter feed. I am trying it for the British Grand Prix with more detail. Here it is:
Saturday's Qualifying
Qualifying time #F1 #BritishGP
Out of Q1: p16 Nasr, p17 Alonso, p18 Button, p19 Stevens, p20 Merhi #F1 #BritishGP
Out of Q2: p11 Perez, p12 Grosjean, p13 Verstappen, p14 Maldonado, p15 Ericsson #F1 #BritishGP Q3 is next
Last year Renault launched their new car called Renault Sport RS 01 that will be racing in the new Renault Sport Trophy (that has ready done two rounds so far this season) is a one-make racing series will serve as a springboard for professional GT and endurance series, will be part of the World Series by Renault series.
The Renault Sport RS 01 looks very slimier to an Audi R8. But underneath, the Renault Sport RS 01 will have the same 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 from the Nissan GT-R, making ‘in excess' of 500bhp and 443lb ft, the engine is mid-mounted, pumped to the rear wheels through a seven-speed sequential box. With the car only weighing only 1,100Kg from a carbon-fibre-monocoqued. While Michelin will supply 18-inch racing tyres to the Renault Sport RS 01.
Overall, the performance of the Renault Sport RS 01 is said to be somewhere between a GT3 and DTM car.
