F1 Drivers Dedicate Russian Grand Prix to Injured Jules Bianchi

Oct 10, 2014 01:30 PM EDT | Matt Mercuro

Formula One drivers say they will race this weekend's Russian Grand Prix for Jules Bianchi, who was seriously injured in an accident last weekend.

Some of the leading drivers, who are still trying to cope with Bianchi's accident, said they had to be professional and focus on the race, despite "gray cloud" over this weekend's event in Sochi.

"All our thought are with Jules," Ferrari driver and former champion Fernando Alonso said according to the Associated Press. "I have a huge respect for our sport but when big accidents happen, there are no words to describe the feeling.

"It's going to be emotionally very difficult, we will race for him, in our minds we are with him, praying," Alonso added.

Binachi suffered a severe head injury Sunday when his Marussia car slid off the track in rainy conditions on the Suzuka circuit during the Japan Grand Prix and crashed into a crane picking up the Sauber of Adrian Sutil, who had crashed out at the same spot just one round earlier.

The driver remains in a Japanese hospital in critical but stable condition.

"We have to pray, that's all we can do. Although there is a gray cloud over us, we have to try to be professional and race for him," Sutil, who witnessed the accident, according to the Associated Press.

Driver Felipe Massa knows what Bianchi is going through. Massa, who survived a life-threatening accident back in 2009, called the race in Japan the "worst race of my life."

"Since I did not remember my accident," Massa said of 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix when he was hit in the head by a flying object that came off another car and fractured his skull, according to the Associated Press.

"It's been a difficult week for all of us," Massa added.

Torro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, who will be at the center of attention in his inaugural home Grand Prix, has "mixed thoughts."

"All drivers have one wish, to hear positive, better news, that he will recover, that's all that matters," Kvyat said, according to the Associated Press.

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