Fans, colleagues pay tribute to F1 driver Bianchi

Jules Bianchi died in hospital in his hometown of Nice, in southern France,on Friday after suffering head injuries following a serious accident at last year's Japanese Grand Prix. He had been in a coma since October 5.

Upon hearing the news, fans and colleagues offered tributes to the young star.

French President Francois Hollande commended the 25-year-old racing car driver for his promising skills.

"It is with great emotion that I learned of the passing of Jules Bianchi. French sport has lost with him one of its great hopes," Hollande said in a statement.

Ferrari, which powers Bianchi's team Manor Marussia, took to Twitter to share their condolences for F1's loss.

On Saturday morning, ardent F1 fan and former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Twitter that Bianchi's death was "a sad and brutal awakening."

"Jules was talent and courage in its purest form. Thoughts to those close to him," he wrote.

Racing champ Mario Andretti, who won the 1978 F1 world champion, also sent his "heartfelt condolences" to Bianchi's family for their loss.

Bianchi earned Manor Marussia its first points in F1 when he sealed the best performance of his career at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2014 after having graduated from Ferrari academy in 2009.

John Booth, team principal of Manor Marussia, described the news as an "enormous sadness" for the team.

"We are incredibly grateful that we were able to provide Jules with the opportunity to show the world what he could do in a Formula One car. We knew we had a very special driver on our hands from the first time he drove our car in pre-season testing in 2013," Booth said in a statement.

"It has been an honor to be able to consider him our race driver, our team mate, and of course our friend."

ls/cmk (AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa)