Formula One pays respects at Bianchi's funeral

Tributes were paid to Formula One driver Jules Bianchi at his funeral in his hometown of Nice, France, on Tuesday, after the 25-year-old died from head injuries last week.

Two giant portraits of Bianchi in full racing gear adorned the walls on either side of the cathedral's main entrance. His coffin, with his No 17 helmet resting on it, was carried from the hearse into the cathedral. With The Eagles' haunting 1970s anthem "Hotel California" playing in the background, the coffin was carried up the cathedral's central aisle.

The sport "was his life, his vocation. He was a champion blessed with a rare talent, as well as being a young man whose stature was as high as the depth of his humility," Father Brison told the mourners in the Sainte-Reparate Cathedral situated in Nice's historic old town. He concluded the service by saying: "Jules never managed to make it on to the Formula One podium, and so I ask you to applaud him now," which the emotional gathering, both inside and outside the cathedral, duly did for several minutes.

No more number 17

While fans gathered outside to listen to a broadcast of the funeral, several drivers were in attendance inside to pay their respects. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean of Lotus, a close friend of Bianchi, were among those present. Sebastian Vettel, the four-time former world champion, helped carry the coffin out of the cathedral.

Bianchi suffered a traumatic brain injury when his car careered off the rain-drenched Suzuka circuit during the Japanese Grand Prix on October 5, 2014 and smashed into a recovery truck at around 200 kilometers (125 miles) an hour. He succumbed to his severe head injuries on Friday, becoming the first F1 driver since Aryton Senna in 1994 to die from race-related injuries.

On Monday, the F1 governing body FIA said Bianchi's number 17 would be retired from the sport.

jh/kms (AFP, dpa)