Anthoine Hubert
Anthoine Hubert was a French professional racing driver. He was the 2018 GP3 Series champion. He died, aged 22, following an accident during the feature race of the 2019 Spa-Francorchamps FIA Formula 2 round at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Career
Karting
Born in Lyon, Hubert began his karting career in 2004 at age eight. In 2010 he finished as runner-up in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy. In the 2011 and 2012 CIK-FIA "U18" World Karting Championships, he finished third.Formula Renault
In 2013, Hubert moved up to single-seater racing, joining the French F4 Championship. He went on to win the series on his first attempt, finishing the season with eleven wins and two further podium finishes.In 2014, he graduated to competing in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with Tech 1 Racing. He finished fifteenth overall, with six point-scoring finishes throughout the season. He also participated in Formula Renault 2.0 Alps as guest driver.
For the 2015 season Hubert remained in the Eurocup and with Tech 1. He finished fifth in the championship with wins at Silverstone and Le Mans and another five podiums to his name. He also contested selected events in the Alps series, where he won four of the six races that he started, and finished second in other two races.
Formula 3
In February 2016, it was confirmed that Hubert would make his debut in the European Formula 3 Championship, racing with Van Amersfoort Racing. He took his first Formula 3 win in the second race at Norisring.GP3 Series
In November 2016, Hubert participated in F3 post-season testing with ART Grand Prix. In February 2017, he was recruited by ART to compete in the 2017 championship. He remained with them for the 2018 season, winning the title and gaining reputation with Formula 1 teams such as Renault.FIA Formula 2 Championship
In November 2018, Hubert participated in the F2 post-season test at Abu Dhabi with MP Motorsport. In January 2019, Hubert joined F2 full-time racing with BWT Arden. He took two wins in the first half of his debut season, at Monaco and at his home race in France.Formula One
In May 2018, Hubert became an affiliated driver with the Renault Sport Academy. In 2019, Hubert received full backing from the Academy.Death
On 31 August 2019, Hubert was involved in a serious crash on the second lap of the feature race of the 2019 Spa-Francorchamps FIA Formula 2 round. As the second lap began, Trident driver Giuliano Alesi lost control of his car as he climbed the Raidillon curve due to a puncture he had received earlier, causing his car to spin and hit the left wall of the circuit, tearing off his rear wing and spreading debris onto the track. As another Trident driver, Ralph Boschung reached the crest of Raidillon, he slowed down and moved towards the run-off area to avoid Alesi's damaged car and the field of debris. Hubert, who was following Boschung's slowing car closely, moved right as well, clipping Boschung's right rear wheel with his front wing. Hubert's car crashed into the tyre barrier on the right side of the track at an acute angle and was deflected sideways into the path of Charouz driver Juan Manuel Correa, who struck the left side of Hubert's car. Correa's speed was estimated to be between 250 and 270 km/h in the moments before the impact. The impact produced 70G deceleration. Both cars were torn apart by the force of the accident. Hubert and Correa were transported to the circuit's medical centre following the accident where Hubert died from his injuries.Correa was airlifted to Liège where he underwent surgery for fractures in both his legs and a minor spinal injury and was reported to be in a stable condition, having never lost consciousness after the impact, but one week later was placed in an induced coma. Alesi, the third driver in the accident, was unhurt. As a result of the accident the feature race was not completed and the sprint race was cancelled out of respect.
Following his death, many drivers and teams in the motorsport world paid tribute to Hubert. On 1 September, a minute's silence was observed before the Formula 3 and Formula 1 races at Spa. Former F3 competitor and Ferrari Formula One driver Charles Leclerc, who won his first career race that afternoon, dedicated his win to Hubert. A standing ovation took place on the 19th lap of the race, corresponding to the number 19 of his Formula 2 car. Before the start of the race, all racing safety vehicles, safety car, medical car, track inspection car, ambulance, car recovery vehicles, etc. made a lap of Circuit de Spa Francorchamps as a tribute to Hubert. All F1 cars had Hubert's car number inside a star and the words "Racing for Anthoine".
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile launched an investigation into the accident. Findings of the Accident Investigation were presented to the World Motor Sport Council, together with recommended actions in December 2019. F2 cars are built to the same safety standard as F1 cars, however, following the accident Racing Point tech boss Andy Green commented: "The energy involved was absolutely huge, and the current chassis design, whether F2 or F1, there's no way a current chassis can survive that sort of impact.". The FIA finished this investigation in February 2020.
Hubert's funeral was on 10 September at Chartres Cathedral, Eure-et-Loir. It was attended by his family, friends and many people from the motorsport world, including Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile president Jean Todt, Renault F1 advisor and four-time champion Alain Prost, Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, and George Russell. Hubert's car number, 19, was later announced to have been retired from use in Formula 2 with his replacement Artem Markelov running the #22 in place of the #19.
Legacy
At the FIA Formula 2 Championship prize-giving ceremony in Monaco in 2019 the Anthoine Hubert Award was introduced. It is named after Hubert who was the only rookie in the season to score two wins. The award is given to the highest-placed driver without previous Formula 2 experience. The inaugural recipient of the Anthoine Hubert Award is Guanyu Zhou.Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | FLaps | Podiums | Points | Position |
| 2013 | French F4 Championship | Autosport Academy | 21 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 365 | 1st |
| 2014 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | Tech 1 Racing | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 15th |
| 2014 | Formula Renault 2.0 Alps | Tech 1 Racing | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC† |
| 2015 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | Tech 1 Racing | 17 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 172 | 5th |
| 2015 | Formula Renault 2.0 Alps | Tech 1 Racing | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | N/A | NC† |
| 2016 | FIA Formula 3 European Championship | Van Amersfoort Racing | 30 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 160 | 8th |
| 2016 | Masters of Formula 3 | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 7th |
| 2016 | Macau Grand Prix | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 13th |
| 2017 | GP3 Series | ART Grand Prix | 15 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 123 | 4th |
| 2018 | GP3 Series | ART Grand Prix | 18 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 214 | 1st |
| 2019 | FIA Formula 2 Championship | BWT Arden | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 77 | 10th |
† As Hubert was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results
Complete GP3 Series results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos | Points | Ref |
| 2017 | ART Grand Prix | CAT FEA 5 | CAT SPR 4 | RBR FEA 4 | RBR SPR 7 | SIL FEA 2 | SIL SPR 8 | HUN FEA 3 | HUN SPR 5 | SPA FEA Ret | SPA SPR 7 | MNZ FEA 3 | MNZ SPR C | JER FEA 5 | JER SPR 3 | YMC FEA 11 | YMC SPR 5 | 4th | 123 | |||
| 2018 | ART Grand Prix | CAT FEA 2 | CAT SPR 2 | LEC FEA 1 | LEC SPR 7 | RBR FEA 17 | RBR SPR 9 | SIL FEA 1 | SIL SPR 4 | HUN FEA 3 | HUN SPR 3 | SPA FEA 3 | SPA SPR 2 | MNZ FEA 2 | MNZ SPR DSQ | SOC FEA 3 | SOC SPR 4 | YMC FEA 3 | YMC SPR Ret | 1st | 214 |
Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | DC | Points | Ref |
| BWT Arden | BHR FEA 4 | BHR SPR 9 | BAK FEA 10 | BAK SPR 11 | CAT FEA 6 | CAT SPR 5 | MON FEA 8 | MON SPR 1 | LEC FEA 8 | LEC SPR 1 | RBR FEA 4 | RBR SPR 17 | SIL FEA 18 | SIL SPR 11 | HUN FEA 11 | HUN SPR 11 | SPA FEA C | SPA SPR C | MNZ FEA | MNZ SPR | SOC FEA | SOC SPR | YMC FEA | YMC SPR | 10th | 77 |