Jules Bianchi died from injuries sustained while racing in the 2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix.

Jules Bianchi suffered eventually fatal injuries in a crash just hours after this photo in 2014 (Image: Getty)

‘Unscrupulous’ thieves targeted the family of late Formula 1 star Jules Bianchi and stole one his father’s most prized possessions. Bianchi made his F1 debut in 2013 but suffered serious head injuries in a crash the following year at Suzuka. The Frenchman died in July 2015, nine months on from that crash, aged just 25.

And now his family have had further pain inflicted upon them by thieves who, according to Bianchi’s father Philippe, stole a dozen racing karts including the last one that was raced by his late son. Philippe wrote in a social media post: “The unscrupulous thieves made off with nine JB17 Forever karts.

“Even worse, they stole Jules’ last kart, a KZ 125 ART GP model, plus my grandsons’ mini karts. Aside from the value of the machines, it’s the sentimental value that hurts us the most.”

He rounded off the post by begging people to keep an eye out for any karts with JB17 branding – his son Jules’ initials and racing number – being put up for sale.

The stolen race kart played a significant role in Jules’ rise in a highly successful junior career, which led to him being noticed by Ferrari. He was signed to the famous Italian team’s driver academy in 2011 and made his F1 debut two years later with minnows Marussia.

Bianchi scored his, and Marussia’s, first ever World Championship points by finishing ninth at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix. He was believed to be a candidate for a race seat at Ferrari in 2015, with Fernando Alonso set to leave, but never got the chance to fight for it.

On a wet Suzuka track and with visibility low, he lost control and hit a recovery vehicle which was removing the stricken Sauber of Adrian Sutil, who had crashed a lap earlier. Bianchi suffered a traumatic brain injury and had to be transported to hospital by road ambulance as weather conditions meant a helicopter was not an option.

Surgeons were able to stabilise him by placing him into an induced coma during emergency surgery. However, he never woke up and died nine months later.

Bianchi remains the last driver to die as a result of injuries sustained in an F1 race. He was the first racer killed by a Grand Prix crash since Ayrton Senna a decade earlier. He was the godfather of current F1 star Charles Leclerc, whose late father Herve was close with Philippe.

At the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver raced with a special tribute helmet to Bianchi, marking the 10th anniversary of his accident. He later gifted the helmet to Philippe who said: “Thanks Charles for this present and your tribute and your support, from the Bianchi family. Congratulations for your fantastic victory in Monaco. I am thinking about Herve and Jules [who would be] so proud about you and of the fantastic man and driver that you are.”