Anthoine Hubert

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, Hubert 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. He took his first Formula 3 win in the second race at Norisring. Hubert ended up eighth in the standings, three positions behind teammate Callum Ilott, but a long way ahead of his other two partners Harrison Newey and Pedro Piquet.

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. Despite only scoring two victories, two less than teammate Nikita Mazepin, the Frenchman won the title through his consistency, showcased by him finishing on the podium in eleven out of the 18 races. This led to him 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, partnering fellow GP3 graduate Tatiana Calderón. He took two wins in the first half of his debut season, at Monte Carlo and at his home race in France. Hubert's first F2 win, in Monaco, was just 0.059 seconds ahead of the second placed driver Louis Delétraz. The second and final win was in his home country, a race he started from pole position and finished ahead of Juan Manuel Correa. He scored points in seven further races that season and was seventh in the standings before the round at Spa-Francorchamps, he finally finished the season in tenth place in the F2 driver's championship.

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 critically injured when he 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. This caused his car to spin and hit the left wall of the circuit, tearing off his rear wing and spreading debris onto the track. When 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 closely following Boschung, could not see where Boschung was, and the speed difference between their two cars. Hubert moved right as well, clipping Boschung's right rear wheel with his front wing. He lost control of his 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 had lost control of his car due to hitting debris from Alesi's car, and was travelling at when he impacted Hubert's near-stationary car. Hubert's car experienced as a result, while Correa was exposed to . 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. Hubert was pronounced dead approximately 90 minutes after the accident took place. 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 rival 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".

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 permanently retired from use in Formula 2 with his replacement Artem Markelov running the #22 in place of the #19.

On the first anniversary of his death, many people in the F1 paddock went to the Raidillon tyre barrier (including close friend Gasly), where Hubert crashed to pay their respects. The F2 Feature race had a small remembrance graphic for Hubert on the upper right hand side of the broadcast (a half star with Hubert's initials and his number, AH19). Pierre Gasly wore a tribute helmet for the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix. All single seater race cars in Belgium during the F1 weekend had an AH19 remembrance sticker on them.

In 2024 leading up to the Belgian Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly again led the entire F1, F2 and F3 paddock for a jog from the start-finish line back up to the Raidillon tyre barrier where Hubert crashed to pay their respects. The corner was also the site of Dilano van 't Hoff's multi-car accident at the exit of the corner in 2023.

Investigation and recommendations The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) 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. The FIA finished this investigation in February 2020.

The FIA stated that Hubert's cause of death was "non-survivable trauma". The FIA also gathers extensive medical data on drivers during the course of the race, however for privacy and ethical reasons, this data is not released to the public. F2 cars are built to the same safety standard as F1 cars; following the accident, Racing Point F1 Team technical 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."

In May 2020, the FIA Safety Department issued the following safety recommendations which will be implemented in future generations of single seat cars (including F1, F2, F3, F4 and Formula E cars):

Debris Containment - using "tethering" in order to prevent large pieces from falling off the car (used currently for keeping wheels attached to the chassis in case of an accident), the use of "tethers" may now be expanded to front and rear wings as well as other large components on the car. Increasing the frontal and side strength of the cockpit (also known as the "safety cell"). Improving the car-to-car compatibility during a crash - the narrow nose section of Formula 2 cars can penetrate the side protection of another car. The current side protection consisting of two Side Impact Protection Structures (SIPS) and Side Anti Intrusion Panel will be redesigned. vs. Kubica's sprained ankle). Kubica struck the wall at 230 km/h and experienced 75G (both higher than Correa). Front wing redesign - increase the robustness of the front wing by introducing “controlled failure” points which should reduce the chance that the entire front wing is destroyed in case of minor contact with another car, Quicker Accident Notification System - for example using the existing rain light to flash in different colours (e.g. yellow to indicate yellow flag conditions on the track or red (to indicate that the race has been stopped)). Possible introduction of car to car communication, i.e. notifications of stationary car(s) on the track. Upgrades were completed in early 2022 but gravel at Raidillon de l'Eau Rouge was not part of the package.

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 was Zhou Guanyu. Hubert is remembered in the racing game F1 2020, where he is a selectable driver.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles Podiums Points Position 2013 French F4 Championship Auto Sport Academy 21 11 10 8 13 365 1st 2014 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Tech 1 Racing 14 0 0 0 0 30 15th Formula Renault 2.0 Alps 6 0 0 0 0 N/A NC† 2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Tech 1 Racing 17 2 2 2 7 172 5th Formula Renault 2.0 Alps 6 4 4 3 6 N/A NC† 2016 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 30 1 1 1 3 160 8th Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th Macau Grand Prix 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 Source: † As Hubert was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete French F4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 DC Points 2013 Autosport Academy LMS1 LMS2 LMS3 PAU1 PAU2 PAU3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 VDV1 VDV2 VDV3 MAG1 MAG2 MAG3 LÉD1 LÉD2 LÉD3 LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 1st 365

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Points 2014 Tech 1 Racing IMO1 IMO2 PAU1 PAU2 RBR1 RBR2 SPA1 SPA2 MNZ1 MNZ2 MUG1 MUG2 JER1 JER2 NC† 0 2015 Tech 1 Racing IMO1 IMO2 PAU1 PAU2 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 SPA1 SPA2 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 MIS1 MIS2 JER1 JER2 NC† 0

† As Hubert was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points 2016 Van Amersfoort Racing Mercedes LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 PAU1 PAU2 PAU3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 NOR1 NOR2 NOR3 ZAN1 ZAN2 ZAN3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR3 IMO1 IMO2 IMO3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 8th 160 Source:

Complete Macau Grand Prix results Year Team Car Qualifying Quali Race Main race 2016 Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara F312 14th DNF 13th

Complete GP3 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points Ref2017 ART Grand Prix CATFEA CATSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR SILFEA SILSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR JERFEA JERSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 4th 123 2018 ART Grand PrixCATFEACATSPRLECFEALECSPRRBRFEARBRSPRSILFEASILSPRHUNFEAHUNSPRSPAFEASPASPRMNZFEAMNZSPRSOCFEASOCSPRYMCFEAYMCSPR 1st 214

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers) 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 BHRFEA BHRSPR BAKFEA BAKSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR LECFEA LECSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR SILFEA SILSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SOCFEA SOCSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 10th 77