The horrific accident that killed Anthoine Hubert, a F1 champ in the making

On August 31, 2019, Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert set off at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. The Frenchman entered his event at the Belgian Grand Prix that weekend as a favorite, but tragically would not finish his second lap.

Hubert was tragically caught in a horror accident as Frenchman Giuliano Alesi spun out coming around a bend. Behind him, Ralph Boschung hit the brakes to avoid a collision but hits Hubert's Arden car instead. This knocked Hubert off the track and into the runoff zone, where he was hit side-on at devastating speed by Juan Manuel Correa, as Eurosport reported at the time.

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The impact was such that Hubert's car was cut in two. Rushed to the nearest hospital, he was pronounced dead, according to French news outlet L'Équipe, an hour and a half after the incident. He was 22 years old.

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The report, published a few days later by the FIA, stated that: "After in-depth analysis of the various phases of the accident, no specific cause was identified, but a multiplicity of factors which contributed to its seriousness."

The report indicated that Alesi's car may have suffered a loss of pressure in its right rear tire, causing the loss of control that informed the chain reaction that culminated in a fatal crash.

The report concluded: "At 262 km/h (162.7 miles/h) and deprived of his front wing, Anthoine Hubert lost control and hit the barrier on the right side of the runoff area at the exit of Turn 4, which he hit according to an angle of approximately 40 degrees at a speed of 216 km/h (134 m/h), generating a maximum force equivalent to 33.7 g."

According to French newspaper La Voix du Nord, the impact of Correa's car subsequently reached 81.1 g: "The medical and emergency services intervened 12 seconds after the initial loss of control of Giuliano Alesi's car, immediately after the display of the double yellow flag and even before the immobilization of Correa's car, the first on-site medical evaluation of Anthoine Hubert took place 54 seconds after the red flag," the report added.

In 2018, the young Frenchman won the GP3 Series and was one of the most talented drivers on the circuit. His tragic death shook the auto racing world.

Born September 22, 1996 in Lyon, Anthoine Hubert started karting at a young age. He was passionate about cars and finished third in the under-18 world karting championships in 2011 and 2012, according to France Racing.

In 2013, at the age of 17, he took his first steps in the world of professional auto racing in the French F4 championship. He topped the competition by winning 11 victories in his first season, according to French news outlet L'Écho Républicain.

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In 2016, according to Auto News, he joined the Van Amersfoort Racing team and participated in the Formula 3 European championship. He gradually made his mark before obtaining pole position and winning his first victory at the Norisring, the 14th race of the season. He finished the season with two podium places and finished eighth in the championship.

He joined ART Grand-Prix in February 2017 and finished 2017-2018 in fourth place in the GP3 Series championship, with incredible consistency. The following year, he took off and became a Renault Sport-affiliated driver, still with ART Grand-Prix.

Very quickly, the young man proved that he deserved all the hype by taking the lead in the championship after two races. With two victories in the season and more than six podiums, he was crowned GP3 Series champion.

In 2019, the prodigy moved up a gear by joining Formula 2, with the Arden International team. Despite competing with one of the slower cars in the competition, he finished fourth in the first race after starting eleventh.

He would follow this with wins in two sprints, in Monaco and Castellet, according to Motor Sport, and had earned himself a reputation as one of the sport's most promising drivers.

Anthoine Hubert was an F1 champ in the making, but unfortunately, the auto racing world will be left wondering what could have been following his tragic death at Spa-Francorchamps on August 31, 2019.

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