Jules Bianchi will not take part in second practice following his crash in the first session.
Marussia confirmed the damage to his car cannot be repaired in time for second practice.
Bianchi, who is driving for the first time at Suzuka, crashed at Degner 2 on his ninth lap of the first practice session.
He was unable to correct the car after a slide when his arm became stuck between the side of the cockpit and the steering wheel. He damaged the front-left corner of the MR02 during the crash.
“As a consequence of Jules Bianchi’s accident in this morning’s free practice one session, his allocated chassis MR02-02 has sustained damage that is repairable but not in sufficient time for him to take part in free practice two,” said the team in a statement.
“Jules will therefore sit out this afternoon’s session. The spare chassis will be built up in time for Jules to resume running in free practice three on Saturday morning.”
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Image © Marussia
Sri Harsha (@harsha)
11th October 2013, 5:15
So sorry for Jules this track punishes mistakes severely. I hope he gets a good Practice tomorrow.
kcarrey (@kcarrey)
11th October 2013, 5:23
Jules Verne.
20,000 races under the belt.
BasCB (@bascb)
11th October 2013, 6:08
Well, at least he doesn’t have to put any effort into qualification, so he can do his FP3 focussed on the race pace
Scottie (@scottie)
11th October 2013, 6:18
Why would he not try in qualifying?
Mads (@mads)
11th October 2013, 7:35
@scottie
He has a grid penalty if i remember correctly. So he would be starting dead last anyway.
Scottie (@scottie)
11th October 2013, 7:43
I had forgotten that @mads , sorry, and thanks!
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
11th October 2013, 7:40
I don’t really understand how the arm could get stuck between steering wheel and side of the cockpit?
Butch27 (@)
11th October 2013, 22:03
@mike-dee Neither do I. But in my opinion if there isn’t enough space in the cockpit it may be a safety issue and it shouldn’t be underestimated.
According to GrandPrix247 Jules said his elbow got stuck
It’s quite strange.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
11th October 2013, 23:59
@mike-dee I was confused by that also. Perhaps he was making a brake bias adjustment at the time also, so maybe the correction was not possible one-handed? That’s purely a theory I’ve just invented!