Jules Bianchi's father admits his son's situation is desperate, but is convinced the youngster will continue fighting.

In an interview with Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport, Philippe Bianchi, who, along with his wife and son and daughter, has maintained a vigil at Jules bedside, said he is utterly convinced that the youngster will not give up the fight.

"The situation is desperate," he said. "Every time the telephone goes, we know it could be the hospital to tell us that Jules is dead. But initially they said that the first 24 hours were crucial. Then it became the first 72 hours and here we are still with Jules, who is fighting.

"I speak to him," he continued. "I know he can hear me. His doctors have told us this is already a miracle, no-one has ever survived such a serious accident. But Jules won't give up. His trainer Andrea (Ferrari) says if there is one person who can make it happen, with his will, it's Jules.

"I was very sad when he got hurt," he added. "I kept wondering, like everyone else 'Why don't they tell us more about how he is?'. But now I'm in the same position I understand.

"Everyone keeps asking me how Jules is but I can't reply, there is no answer. It's very serious, but he's stable. One day he seems a bit better, other days a bit worse. The doctors don't say. The damage from the accident is very bad but we don't know how it will evolve.

"Even with Schumacher it took months to come out of the coma. Jean Todt said he hopes Michael will one day be able to have a normal life. One day I hope we can say the same about Jules.

"It's tough. In a week the life of this family has been destroyed. What are we doing here? Living a nightmare in a place very far from home. But when Jules gets a bit better we can transfer him, maybe to Tokyo and things will be a bit easier. But who knows when that will happen. If it will happen. We have no certainties, we just have to wait."

Bianchi concluded by admitting that the support from his son's fellow-driver, including a tribute on the grid ahead of Sunday's race, meant much to him and his family.

"I've never seen anything like that," he said. "It touched us very deeply. We thank every one of them. So many of them have been in touch, written to me, Alonso, Vergne and ] Massa have given strong messages. Hamilton wrote me a beautiful email in which he says that if there is anything he can do, he's there. Rossi and Marquez from Moto GP too."

Needless to say, Pitpass on behalf of its readers, hopes Philippe and his family get some good news very soon.