Anthoine Hubert

Anthoine Hubert (born 22 September 1996 in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, died 31 August 2019 in Stavelot, Liège, Belgium) is a French racing driver who competed with BWT Arden in the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship. The final driver to win the GP3 Series, Hubert arrived in F2 with backing from the Renault Sport Academy, although he would be killed in an accident at the 2019 Spa Feature Race.

Hubert would have a strong rookie season, claiming two victories at the Monaco and the Le Castellet Sprint Races on home soil. Unfortunately the Frenchman would be killed on lap two at the Spa Feature Race, after being T-boned by an out of control Juan Manuel Correa in the midst of an accident at Raidillon.

To mark Hubert's life, the F2 Championship would introduce the Anthoine Hubert Award at the end of the 2019 season, while also retiring the #19 that the Frenchman used during his only F2 campaign.

Background
Hubert made his debut in the world of racing in 2006, rising through the ranks to finish third in the CIK-FIA World Championship in both 2011 and 2012. 2013 saw Hubert graduate to racing cars, entering the French F4 Championship where he would claim eleven wins and the Championship. Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 beckoned for Hubert in 2014, with the Frenchman claiming fifteenth at the end of the year.

Nurtured Talent
A second season of Eurocup saw Hubert end the season with two wins and fifth in the Championship, while also winning multiple races in the sister Alps series. 2016 saw a move to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, where Hubert would claim one win en-route to eighth in the Championship. Hubert subsequently transferred his colours to the GP3 Series in 2017, where he would claim fourth in the Championship.

2018 proved to be Hubert's standout year, with the Frenchman squabbling with Nikita Mazepin throughout the season. Ultimately Hubert would claim the title with a race to spare, earning him a test in an F2 car at the end of the season.

Formula Two History
Hubert drove an FIA Formula 2 Championship for the first time at the 2018 Yas Marina Test, driving for MP Motorsport across all three days. Hubert would subsequently be signed by BWT Arden on the eve of the 2019 season, partnering Tatiana Caldéron. Hubert would open the season with a strong debut run to fourth in the 2019 Bahrain Feature Race, only to slip back to ninth in the corresponding Sprint Race.

A more low-key weekend for Hubert would follow in Baku, with the Frenchman only claiming a single point in the Feature.

Accident
Entering the 2019 Spa Feature Race, Hubert was considered an outside pretender for the Championship, arriving as the best placed rookie in the field. He would, however, have a poor run in qualifying and only claim thirteenth on the grid behind Giuliano Alesi in the middle of the pack. The Frenchman would make an okay start, and managed to follow a fast starting Alesi past Jordan King, only to slip behind Ralph Boschung instead down the Kemmel Straight.

As the field thundered through Eau Rouge at the start of lap two tenth placed Alesi would experience a sudden deflation in his right rear tyre, which sent the #21 Trident slamming into the outside wall, before rebounding across the circuit at Raidillon. Boschung and Hubert were next on scene and jinked to avoid, only for Hubert to hit the back of Boschung before having an accident on the outside wall at Raidillon, hitting the tyre barrier at 135 mph. Bits of the #19 BWT Arden were flung across the run-off area, while the rest of Hubert's car slid back towards the circuit.

As that was going on Juan Manuel Correa would hit debris for Alesi's deflated tyre as he crested Raidillon, smashing the front wing and making it impossible for the American racer to steer. The #12 Charouz-Sauber would subsequently slam nose first into the side of Hubert's car, splitting the Arden in two between the cockpit and engine, while also ripping apart Correa's nose. The two cars were then sent skating back onto the circuit, with neither driver moving after the huge collision at 130 mph.

Less than five seconds after their collision the race was halted by a red flag, with marshals swarming to the now destroyed cars of Hubert and Correa. Hubert was seen by a medical officer inside of a minute, although the Frenchman was declared dead upon arrival at the medical centre. Correa, meanwhile, was extracted from his car and put into a medically induced coma at his behest after being sent to Liège Hospital.

FIA Report
The FIA launched an immediate investigation into the events of the accident, with the official report released on 7 February 2020. The report first concluded with "reasonable probability" that the reason for Alesi's accident, the catalyst of the incident, was a sudden deflation of his right rear tyre. It also ruled that there had been no fault on the part of either Boschung nor Hubert in avoiding Alesi's car, nor with Correa who had suffered suspension damage after hitting debris left from the #21 Trident.

The report also released figures regarding the incident, noting that Hubert hit the barriers at Raidillon at an angle c.40° at 135 mph, before coming to a near full-stop relative to the direction of traffic on track. Correa's impact with the #19 Arden was registered at 135.5 mph, with Hubert receiving a 81.8g of peak force at point of impact, briefly catapulting the Frenchman's car to 65.5 mph. The entire incident from Alesi's off to Hubert and Correa's cars coming to a stop took 14.6 seconds.

The FIA also concluded that the reaction from the marshals were "timely and good", with the first yellow flag appearing 1.8s after Alesi's initial incident. That was escalated to a double yellow 2.5s after Correa struck Hubert, before the red flag was shown 2.7s as Hubert's car "came to rest on track on its left-hand side". Finally, Hubert received his first on-scene medical evaluation within 54s of the red flag.

Legacy
After Hubert's death, the FIA Formula 2 Championship would unveil the Anthoine Hubert Award at the end of the season, which was to be awarded to the highest placed rookie in the Championship. The inaugural winner would be Hubert's fellow Renault Sport Academy member Guanyu Zhou, who finished seventh in the final standings in 2019. The series would also withdraw #19 as a race number for the 2020 season, before permanently retiring the number from F2 competition on the anniversary of Hubert's death.

The series would also unveil a special logo based on Hubert's initials, race number and helmet design, which was displayed on all Formula One, F2 and F3 cars and official press releases at the Formula 1 Rolex Belgian Grand Prix 2020.

Full Formula Two Record
Shown below are a series of tables outlining 's career in Formula Two in statistical form.

Formula Two Entries
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for during their F2 career:

Career Results
Below is a table showing 's full Formula Two record.


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