Marussia have expressed shock and anger at claims made against the team and Jules Bianchi relating to the circumstances of his crash in the Japanese Grand Prix that has left him fighting for his life.

The Banbury team noticed that a number of media reports suggested Bianchi did not slow down under double-waved yellow flags shown after Adrian Sutil had spun off in the wet conditions at Suzuka.

The reports also suggested radio transmissions from the team had urged Bianchi to go faster during the extreme cautionary period in order to keep Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson behind.

Bianchi careered off the track and into a recovery vehicle that was removing the Sauber of Sutil, who had crashed on the previous lap.

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Marussia have refuted the media reports via a strongly-worded statement issued in a bid to set the record straight.

“The Marussia F1 Team is shocked and angered by these allegations,” it said.

“Given that these allegations are entirely false, the team has no alternative but to address these.

“Jules did slow down under the double-waved yellow flags. That is an irrefutable fact, proven by the telemetry data, which the team has provided to the FIA.

“It is quite clear that at no point during the period leading up to Jules’s accident did the team urge Jules to drive faster.

“The team sincerely hopes that having clarified these facts it can now avoid any further distractions to its primary focus at this time, which is providing support for Jules and his family.”

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