Co-author: Marika Petracca
On the 10th anniversary of the tragic events of the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix which ultimately ended the life of Ferrari Driver Academy and Marussia F1’s Jules Bianchi, his father, Philippe Bianchi, in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, spoke about his family’s long-standing relationship with current Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
Phillipe Bianchi stated that his family’s relationship with Leclerc stemmed from his friendship with Leclerc’s father, Hervé, and recalled that it was he who had introduced the younger Leclerc to karting for the first time after the later, a young child at the time, had pretended to be sick to skip school. This introduction to karting would ultimately be Charles Leclerc’s first step on his journey to Formula One – an ambition that he shared with Jules whom he would often turn to for advice.
“His dad, Hervé, was my best friend.
“We were always together, and it was me who put Charles on the kart for the first time: he was very little, and he pretended to be sick so that he could skip school and come to us with his dad, to the Brignoles Kartdrome.
“Jules was older than him, but Charles was very close to him, he always asked him for advice.”
Despite Jules’ death on 17 July 2015, nine months after the terrible crash in Suzuka, and Hervé’s death, just under two years later in 2017, Phillipe Bianchi and Charles Leclerc maintained a close relationship, with the former claiming that the tragedies had brought them closer.
“Then I lost my son, and he lost his dad.
“But this did not separate us, it united us even more.”
Bianchi shared that Leclerc sometimes reminded him of his son Jules, noting their shared obsession for racing which he described as “a real vocation.” He recalled how younger Charles, like Jules, would sometimes want to “sleep with the racing suit,” even off the track, and noted the shared “competitive spirit” that he saw in them “when they put the helmet on.”
“And sometimes when I see Charles, he reminds me of my son.
“They had the same obsession for racing.
“It was more than a passion; they only wanted to race and win. A real vocation.
“Charles sometimes wanted to sleep with the racing suit [on], we would tell him to take it off and go wash his teeth, but he wanted to keep it [on] at all costs.
“Jules was the same, I remember one time telling him he should concentrate more on school and less on racing and he thought I was crazy: ‘No Dad, I only want to race’.
“They had the same competitive spirit in their eyes when they put the helmet on, really an incredible thing.”
On the topic of helmets, Bianchi spoke about the helmet gifted to him by Charles Leclerc after the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix. The helmet, which bore Jules’ number 17 logo, and featured his core colours, was worn by Leclerc as a tribute to his mentor and gifted to Bianchi after the former’s 2024 Monaco Grand Prix victory.
Bianchi explained that he had asked Leclerc for the helmet, and in return, had given Leclerc one of Jules’, despite “never” giving his son’s helmets to anyone. He added that it “was right” that Leclerc have one of Jules’ helmets as he did “a lot” for the Bianchi family.
“Actually, we made a swap. When I saw the helmet Charles made to remember Jules at this year’s GP in Suzuka, I asked him for it, and I gave him one of my son’s Formula 1 helmets.
“We usually never give Jules’ helmets to anyone, but Charles just had to have one and when we gave it to him, he was so happy. He does a lot for us; it was right that he had it.”
Phillipe Bianchi also spoke about the role that he had played in connecting Leclerc with Nicolas Todt – Leclerc’s current manager. Todt, the son of former FIA president and former Ferrari team principal, played an instrumental role in allowing Leclerc to continue his karting career after the latter’s family experienced financial issues associated with the expenses required to continue his motorsport development.
Bianchi stated that Leclerc had been the first child he had recommended to Todt and had helped set up a meeting between Todt and Leclerc. This meeting had ultimately been successful, allowing Leclerc to continue his motorsport development and ultimately, paving his way to Formula 1. Bianchi added that he had been happy about the successful outcome of the meeting, as it allowed him and Hervé to hold on to their shared dream for their sons’ futures.
“Charles’ dad had told me that his son’s career was becoming too expensive, and so I called Nicolas and told him that in all those years I had never recommended him a boy to follow, even if I saw endless ones pass by our kartdrome. He absolutely had to give this boy one chance because he had something more.
“I remember we set up a meeting and Charles and his dad came dressed so elegantly; it looked like they were attending a wedding. They found a deal and I was happy because with Hervé we always used to say we had one dream for our sons…”
When asked about this shared dream, Bianchi revealed that he and Hervé Leclerc had wished to see Jules and Charles drive together in F1.
“See them drive together in Formula 1, perhaps at Ferrari. One a bit older, the other younger, but together.”
Ultimately, this dream would never be realised, with Jules Bianchi succumbing to his injuries in 2015, more than two and a half years before Charles Leclerc’s 2018 F1 debut with Alfa Romeo/Sauber.
