Romain Grosjean And Sebastian Vettel Pay Tribute To Stricken F1 Racers Jules Bianchi And Michael Schumacher

Formula One, or F1, racers Romain Grosjean and Sebastian Vettel have paid tribute to stricken F1 racer Jules Bianchi and retired seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher. Grosjean and Vettel offered their homage to Bianchi and Schumacher through their new helmet designs.

Frenchman Grosjean, who retained his stint with Lotus, has shared a picture of his new helmet design on Instagram on Feb. 7. The new helmet that he will use for the upcoming season has a message that says “Forza Jules,” which means “Keep Fighting Jules.”

“Really happy to introduce you my #2015 helmet design,” Grosjean posted on Instagram. “Très fier de vous dévoiler mon design de casque 2015 #r8main #helmet #f1 #ForzaJules #reveal.”

Bianchi got into an accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix in October 2014. Biachi was put in a medically induced coma following the catastrophic accident. On Nov. 29, Bianchi’s family has released a statement to inform the public that the Marussia driver has already woken up from coma but is still unconscious. Since waking up from coma, Bianchi had been transferred to his home town in Nice, France. Bianchi’s condition then was said to be critical yet stable.

In December, Bianchi’s family has shared another update on the condition of the 25-year-old Marussia driver. The statement said that Bianchi still remains unconscious. However, he is able to breathe on his own. Bianchi is currently at the Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice to continue his rehabilitation program.

Meanwhile, Vettel’s new helmet design has recently made its debut during the pre-season test in Jerez, Spain. The new design's vertical lines depict the German flag. Although Vettel didn’t explicitly say that his new helmet is a tribute to compatriot German racing legend Schumacher, people speculated that the Red Bull driver wanted to pay tribute to Schumacher.

However, German news outlet Sport Bild refuted the report and said that the new design only resembled Schumacher’s previous helmet by accident. Vettel’s designer Jens Munser said that they had no idea what Schumacher’s old karting helmet looked like. “To say that the design is based from Schumi’s old helmet design would be somewhat exaggerated,” Munser said.

Schumacher is still battling for his recovery after suffering head injuries following a skiing accident in December 2013. Schumacher is currently in his Swiss Villa in Lake Geneva where he is continuing his rehabilitation treatment.

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