RIP Jules Bianchi, a Ferrari protege, a Formula Renault and F3 champion, a veteran of 34 Grand Prix and a charming, cheery Frenchman some were quietly tipping to be a future World Champion. In a coma since that terrible collision in the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, Bianchi sadly lost his fight on Friday night, at the age of just 25.
A great talent taken too soon
The FIA called him "one of the most talented drivers of this generation", and it's something his F3 race engineer agreed with, describing Bianchi as even quicker than Vettel. Ferrari noted this (particularly given what Vettel's done in Alonso's old car this year): apparently, negotiations were advanced at the time of the Japanese Grand Prix that would have put Bianchi in a Sauber this year - he almost certainly would have had a nice brace of points by now, and maybe even a shoo-in to Kimi's seat for 2016.
Pleasingly, he was already an F1 points-scorer though, following his hard-won 9th place at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix. He didn't simply inherit this but had to conduct some ballsy overtakes to get it - at Monaco of all places. A circuit where cars are equalised and drivers can make the difference, it was Marussia F1's best-ever day and ample reward for a great drive in tricky conditions.
Tributes poured in from across motorsport
Following the news of Bianchi's passing, the FIA issued a heart-breaking press release, marking "the courage with which he conducted his last fight, in the company of his loving family. Jean Todt, FIA President, expressed his deepest condolences to Jules' family and recognised the great pain being felt by the Bianchi family and those close to them.
"The motor sport community offers their most sincere support through this terrible ordeal." It was a freak accident, the first in an F1 race since Senna in 1994, that has inflicted "daily torture" on Bianchi's father Philippe and his family.
Heartbreakingly, Jules lost the fight this weekend. But history, and the motorsport history books, will rightly always remember a potential World Champion whose life was cut so tragically short.
Chilton wins, dedicates it to Bianchi
Jules Bianchi's teammate throughout his time at Marussia was the metronomically-consistent race-finisher Max Chilton. These days, he's racing the troublesome Nissan Motorsport LMP1 car in FIA WEC, but is also campaigning the fledgling Carlin Indy Lights car in the U.S. as the Farnham team looks to enter a full IndyCar team in 2016 or 2017.
So it was fitting that on Saturday, as news of Bianchi's death broke, Chilton was able to storm to his first Indy Lights win at Iowa Speedway. He led pretty much from lights to flag, and rightly dedicated the victory to Bianchi from the podium. Good man.
Can the new R8 match last year's victory?
Nothing to do this weekend? Feeling brave with the blockages at Calais? Why not head on over to Spa for the 24 Hours race, being run for the 67th time as the Blancpain Endurance Series rolls into town. With general entry tickets costing just 30 euros - and with free entry on Thursday and Friday - it's a very cheap way to watch a potential classic race.
See, last year's winning margin was just seven seconds, with the Audi Club Team WRT just pipping the Marc VDS BMW, and the championship points table is similarly close this year after three rounds. Last time out, Brit Alex Buncombe win in the Nissan Academy car, but the challenge this time will be even more fierce with new cars from Audi, McLaren and Lamborghini all gaining miles and speed.
You'll even see an IndyCar champion, F1 racer and Olympic gold medal winner racing: yes, Alex Zanardi is driving in the 24 hour event, in a BMW partnered with Timo Glock and Bruno Spengler. Being able to see a superhero in action taking on yet another huge challenge is worth the short trip across Belgium alone.
Testing gets underway this week, with the race starting on Saturday afternoon. Hands up if you're going?
The new engine comes good!
Motorbase is back, and quick
We recently mentioned the return of Motorbase to BTCC, after winning a battle to secure sponsorship and finish development of its new Ford Ecoboost engine. Last week, the team was back in action for the first time in testing at Snetterton - and boss David Bartrum's confidence seems to have been justified: the car was quick.
In Mat Jackson's hands, it topped the timings at the end of the day, pipping the MG of Andrew Jordan. OK, this may have been a bit of a glory run to seal the sponsorship deals to fill the conspicuously blank white paint of the car, but even so: you have to have a certain amount of speed to do a glory run in the first place, after all.
The Motorbase car of the rather underrated talent of Jackson will certainly be worth keeping an eye on when BTCC gets back into gear at Snetterton on August 9.