Jules Bianchi's Father Makes Desperate Plea After Theft

Karts belonging to the Bianchi family have been stolen, including those raced by the late F1 driver.

Jules Bianchi | IMAGO / HochZwei

The father of late Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi has shared a plea on social media after karts belonging to the family were stolen.

Frenchman Bianchi was a rising star in Formula 1 with the now-defunct Marussia team, which was a backmarker on the grid when making his debut in 2013.

He remained with the outfit for 2014, securing Marussia's first points, finishing ninth at the Monaco Grand Prix, and was tipped to eventually join Ferrari, having been a part of its academy, such was his talent.

Bianchi "hurt" by thefts

But Bianchi suffered significant injuries in a horrific crash at the Japanese Grand Prix that year, sliding off-track in dreadful conditions at the Suzuka Circuit and striking a recovery vehicle deployed to retrieve Adrian Sutil's Sauber at the Dunlop Curve. He would pass away in 2015.

Yet over a decade on from his death, father Phillippe has revealed the theft of karts from the family, including one of the last JB17 karts used before Bianchi's move into junior single-seater categories.

Jules Bianchi's father reported some of their family's karts have been stolen, including Jules' last one.

Philippe asks the karting community to report any JB17 chassis seen in circulation. pic.twitter.com/Ul7E9TCkQr

— Motorsport (@Motorsport) January 6, 2026

In a post on Facebook, Bianchi Sr wrote: “Dear friends, tonight I am addressing my karting family. Last night we were burgled and the unscrupulous thieves made off with nine JB17 Forever chassis.

“Even worse, they stole Jules' last kart, a KZ 125 ART GP model, as well as my grandsons' mini karts. Apart from the value of the machines, it is the sentimental value that hurts us. If you see any JB17 karts in circulation, please let me know. Thank you in advance.”

Bianchi's death was the first inflicted by injuries sustained during an official F1 weekend since Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenburger succumbed at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix and led to sweeping safety changes in the sport.

This included introducing the virtual safety car alongside the traditional safety car to help control speeds during incidents.

The incident has also been used by drivers as an example of when safety was not put first in recent years. Pierre Gasly was left furious when a recovery vehicle was deployed onto the circuit at Suzuka in 2022 in similarly dreadful conditions as in 2014.

Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

On team radio as he passed the vehicle when racing to catch the safety car train following a lap one pitstop, Gasly fumed: "God! What the... what is this tractor? What is this tractor on track?"I passed next to it like.

"This is unacceptable. Remember what has happened. I can't believe this."

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