Jules Bianchi has passed away nine months after his crash

We are very sad to report and announce that this morning Jules Bianchi's family has announced that he tragically died on Friday night, nine months after his crash in Formula 1's 2014 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Bianchi had been in a coma since the accident, in which he suffered a diffuse axonal injury after colliding with a recovery vehicle while driving for Marussia.

He was initially treated at the Mie Prefecture medical centre in Japan before being transferred to a facility in Nice a month after the crash.

Although his rehabilitation therapy began late last year, in May Bianchi's father Philippe admitted that their hopes as a family were fading for his complete recovery and his death was announced in the early hours of Saturday morning.

In a statement from the Bianchi family that has been released this morning, they confirmed the news that Jules had tragically passed away on Friday night as follows:-

'It is with deep sadness that the parents of Jules Bianchi, Philippe and Christine, his brother Tom and sister Melanie, wish to make it known that Jules passed away last night at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) in Nice, (France) where he was admitted following the accident of 5th October 2014 at Suzuka Circuit during the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix.

'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. We wish to thank the medical staff at Nice's CHU who looked after him with love and dedication.

'We also thank the staff of the General Medical Center in the Mie Prefecture (Japan) who looked after Jules immediately after the accident, as well as all the other doctors who have been involved with his care over the past months.

'Furthermore, we thank Jules' colleagues, friends, fans and 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.

'Listening to and reading the many messages made us realise just how much Jules had touched the hearts and minds of so many people all over the world.

'We would like to ask that our privacy is respected during this difficult time, while we try to come to terms with the loss of Jules.'

Formula One did run in the Bianchi family where Jules' great uncle Lucien was a sportscar and F1 racer in the 1950s and '60s. Jules was a Ferrari protege who won French Formula Renault and European Formula 3 titles in 2007 and '09 respectively.

He reached F1 via campaigns in GP2 and Formula Renault 3.5, spending 2012 as Force India's third driver before getting a race seat with Marussia the following year. He famously scored the team's first points with ninth place in the 2014 Monaco GP; thereby scoring his first points and Marussia's first points in Formula One.

All I can say is that even though this is the news that we didn't want to hear, Jules fought with every inch of passion and determination like he did on the track and sadly there's nothing I can say apart from that he is out of pain now and he'll be deeply missed and remembered by the sport and also by the fans from what he achieved in his career; especially scoring his first points in Monaco in a brilliant race fighting his way through the grid.

This is what we need to remember and have to remember him by; the achievements that he achieved on the track and they speak for themselves and that is in itself is the best legacy to leave and can never be forgotten about.

Everyone's thoughts at Driving For Pleasure go out to the Bianchi family, his friends and also the Manor F1 team. Jules may have gone in body, but will always be here in spirit. And in the words of The Killers “Goodnight and travel well” Jules, you'll never be forgotten and will always be a bright shining star in the sky.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa