F1 world gathers for Bianchi's funeral in Nice

The funeral service for Jules Bianchi took place at the Sainte Reparate Cathedral in Nice Tuesday morning, with many key members of the F1 world joining the Frenchman's family and friends for what was inevitably an emotionally charged event for all concerned.

Large portrait photographs of Bianchi hung outside the church, and one of his racing helmets was placed on the coffin.

Among the current F1 drivers in attendance were Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa, Dany Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg Roberto Merhi, Pastor Maldonado, Valtteri Bottas and Marcus Ericsson.

Others to attend included FIA President Jean Todt, Alain Prost, Olivier Panis, Adrian Sutil, Jean-Eric Vergne, Pedro de la Rosa, Allan McNish, Max Chilton, Charles Pic, Alex Rossi, Esteban Gutierrez, GPDA chairman Alex Wurz, McLaren's Eric Boullier and members of the Manor/Marussia team, including boss John Booth.

Jules Bianchi passed away on Friday from head injuries after being in a coma for nine months following his crash at the Japanese Grand Prix on Oct. 5, 2014. He was the first driver to be killed during an F1 race since Ayrton Senna in 1994.