Bianchi critical with brain injury

Formula One driver Jules Bianchi remains in a "critical but stable" condition after suffering a traumatic and devastating brain injury in a crash during Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

It is still too early to say if, and to what extent, Bianchi will recover from the "diffuse axonal injury", where a shearing force has torn tissue throughout the brain and the brain swells.

A statement was released on Tuesday afternoon by Bianchi's team Marussia F1, on behalf of his family and the Mie General Medical Center in Japan where he is being treated, to provide an update on the Frenchman's condition.

"Jules remains in the Intensive Care Unit of the Mie General Medical Center in Yokkaichi," the family statement read.

"He has suffered a diffuse axonal injury and is in a critical but stable condition.

"The medical professionals at the hospital are providing the very best treatment and care and we are grateful for everything they have done for Jules since his accident."

It is not dissimilar to the injury sustained by seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher in a skiing accident last December.

Schumacher is now recovering at home after coming out of a coma.

There is a highly variable outlook for the 25-year-old Bianchi, who has already undergone surgery, and it is not possible to know the full extent of his injuries or make an accurate prognosis - from full recovery to the opposite end of the spectrum - without consulting his medical records.

The operation will likely have been carried out in order to remove a section of the skull to allow the brain space to swell, or to remove a blood clot, or to insert a monitor to guide the management of the patient.

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Bianchi critical with brain injury