Renault says its junior driver Anthoine Hubert, who died in a crash during the F2 feature race at Spa today, was a bright talent who brought “energy and positivity”.
“Renault Sport Racing is devastated at the loss of one of its brightest young talents, Anthoine Hubert, who passed away today following an accident involving several cars at Circuit Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium,” said the team in a statement. “The 22-year-old Frenchman was racing for BWT-Arden in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.“Anthoine was a member of the Renault Sport Academy and raced in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the final ladder to F1. As reigning GP3 champion and member of the Equipe de France, FFSA (French Federation of Motorsport), the Frenchman was a huge talent who also brought great energy and positivity to his championship, his teams and the Renault Sport Academy. His smile and sunny personality lit up our formidable group of young drivers, who had formed tight and enduring bonds.
“His strong results in F2 this season, including wins on home soil in Monaco and France, inspired not just the other recruits but also the wider Renault Sport Racing group.”
Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul said the team’s thoughts are “with Anthoine’s friends and family at this tragic time.
“Anthoine was a bright young man. His performance and conduct on and off track was that of a true gentleman and it was a pleasure and honour to have had him within our Academy. He will be sorely missed by our teams at Enstone and Viry. His spirit will remain with the team and we will race in his memory.”
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Joao (@johnmilk)
31st August 2019, 20:14
I have been gifted a ticket for tomorrows race. My first ever GP attendance. Always said Spa is the place of dreams, so you can imagine my enthusiasm for tomorrow. The ticket was only for the race day
I’ve been with my wife and daughter in Brussels, taking the opportunity for our first vacations of the year. I’ve been speaking about F3, F2 and F1 all week. They can’t stand it anymore. I even made a joke about my daughter becoming the first ever female champion in F1.
We were walking about during the F2 race. And my phone suddenly burst into notifications (plenty of friends follow the formulas), I almost started crying in the middle of the street and said to my wife that tomorrow should be cancelled.
If I’m sad about this, I can’t even begin to understand how Hubert’s family is feeling.
Apologies for let this out. I guess you guys would understand. We are all fanatics at the end of the day
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
31st August 2019, 20:25
@johnmilk This is a sad day but it’s not a surprise, not to drivers or serious racing fans. Danger and risk is half of the reason why we love racing. You should go tomorrow and appreciate what these drivers do, they will not stop racing because of today and seeing half empty grandstands does not say thank you.
BasCB (@bascb)
31st August 2019, 20:26
Hugs @johnmilk. No need to apologize.
John Beak (@johnbeak)
31st August 2019, 20:58
It’s okay to let out the feels @johnmilk.
I’ve never been to a race myself. There haven’t been many friends to share my passion with, so I was excited when I, after following F1 for 16 years, finally got to watch a race on TV together with a friend. The race was Suzuka 2014.
We all share the pain, but tomorrow is another day.
GtisBetter (@)
31st August 2019, 21:12
No need to apologize, most of us here follow these guys, sometimes for years, we talk about them, cheer for them, rate them en enjoy the fights they have. We do get a connection with them even if we almost never see them. We see them crash and when they walk away many times it feels like they are invincible. But unfortunatly we have these terrible crashes and are reminded again how fragile life is. Like people above here said, the best way to honor Hubert is to go to Spa and show your love for racing.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
31st August 2019, 22:21
man that sucks @johnmilk :-(
Joao (@johnmilk)
31st August 2019, 22:45
@ivan-vinitskyy @bascb @johnbeak @passingisoverrated @mrboerns @phylyp
Will do guys. Tomorrow I will be there, and will keep annoying these two.
I will remember and honour Hubert as best as I can
bosyber (@bosyber)
1st September 2019, 1:09
Feel with you @johnmilk, hope there will be an appropriately commemoration and skillful and respectful racing.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
31st August 2019, 21:06
@johnmilk – I’m sorry to hear that your Spa experience had to be this tragic weekend. Please do attend the F1 race. And yes, keep talking the ears off your wife and daughter on Sunday as well!
Jack Mezar
31st August 2019, 21:27
You should go to honor the driver and the sport. That’s where it is needed the most. Humanity has never stopped exploring the outer space just because one rocket exploded. It is sad but it is also important that you go.
Joao (@johnmilk)
2nd September 2019, 22:49
I went Jack
Lap 19, glad I was there to take part
SteveR
1st September 2019, 1:30
I was racing Formula Ford out of Seattle in the early 80’s. A friend of mine and a fellow FF driver was Steve Phillips driving a Lola T-440. We were at Westwood, outside of Vancouver, for a weekend club event. During the Sunday race Steve drove under an un-sighted deer at ‘Deer’s Leap’ on the back straight and was killed. He left three daughters and a wife. So what do you do? Quit? Continue? It’s not simple.