YOKKAICHI (AFP) - French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital in Japan after suffering a traumatic brain injury, a joint statement by his family and the hospital said on Tuesday.

"Jules remains in the Intensive Care Unit of the Mie General Medical Center in Yokkaichi. He has suffered a diffuse axonal injury and is in a critical but stable condition," the statement read.

"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."

The 25-year-old Marussia driver suffered the injury in a high-speed crash into a recovery vehicle near the end of Sunday's rain-hit Japanese Grand Prix.

The heavy-lifting vehicle was trying to remove Adrian Sutil's stricken Sauber, which had crashed at the same spot on the circuit a lap earlier.