Anthoine Hubert: 2018 GP3 Champion, Spa 2019 and the Safety Changes That Followed

Anthoine Hubert was a French professional racing driver who won the 2018 GP3 Series title and was a member of the Renault Sport Academy. He died after a crash in the 2019 Formula 2 feature race at Spa-Francorchamps, and the accident led to a series of safety recommendations that now shape single-seater design.

How did Hubert start racing?

Hubert was born in Lyon and began karting in 2004, at the age of eight. He was runner-up in the 2010 CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, and he finished third in the CIK-FIA U18 World Karting Championships in both 2011 and 2012.

His karting results came before his move to single-seaters in 2013, when he joined the French F4 Championship.

Racing cars for the first time in 2013, he reached the top step of the podium on many occasions in the French F4 Championship.

A GP3 champion whose death at Spa led to new safety rules for every single-seater.

What did Hubert win in French F4 and the Eurocup?

The French F4 title came on his first attempt: he won eleven races and added two further podiums. That was his first season in single-seater racing, and the title set up his Eurocup step. He also went on to race in the Eurocup the following year.

In 2014 he moved up to the Eurocup with Tech 1 Racing, where he ended the season fifteenth overall after six points-paying finishes. He also appeared as a guest driver in Formula Renault 2.0 Alps.

For 2015 he remained in the Eurocup with Tech 1 and finished fifth in the championship. He won at Silverstone and at Le Mans and added another five podiums. In the Alps series he won four of the six races he started and finished second in two others.

How did Hubert win the 2018 GP3 title?

In February 2016 it was confirmed that he would make his debut in the European Formula 3 Championship with Van Amersfoort Racing. His first Formula 3 win came in the second race at Norisring, and he finished eighth in the standings.

He was three positions behind teammate Callum Ilott in 2016 but well ahead of his other two partners, Harrison Newey and Pedro Piquet.

In November 2016 he took part in Formula 3 post-season testing with ART Grand Prix. ART recruited him in February 2017 to compete in the GP3 Series, and he stayed with the team for the 2018 season.

In 2018 he won the GP3 title with two victories, two fewer than teammate Nikita Mazepin. He finished on the podium in eleven of the 18 races, and that consistency won him the championship and attention from Formula One teams such as Renault.

What was Hubert's 2019 Formula 2 season like?

In November 2018 he tested for MP Motorsport at the Formula 2 post-season session in Abu Dhabi. In January 2019 he joined BWT Arden for full-time racing, partnering fellow GP3 graduate Tatiana Calderon. That move took him from GP3 into the Formula 2 field.

Two wins came early in his debut season: Monte Carlo, and his home round in France. His Monaco victory was just 0.059 seconds ahead of Louis Deletraz, and the French win came from pole position, with Juan Manuel Correa second.

He scored points in seven further races and was seventh in the standings before the Spa round. His points finishes were steady across the year. He finished the season in tenth place in the Formula 2 drivers' championship, and he was the only rookie to score two wins that year.

What happened at Spa on 31 August 2019?

On 31 August 2019 Hubert suffered critical injuries when he crashed on lap two of the feature race. As the lap began, Trident driver Giuliano Alesi lost control on the climb to the Raidillon curve after a puncture he had picked up earlier, and his car spun into the left-hand wall with debris spreading across the track.

Another Trident driver, Ralph Boschung, slowed and moved toward the run-off area to avoid Alesi's damaged car and the debris. Hubert, following closely behind Boschung, could not judge the gap, and he moved right and clipped Boschung's right rear wheel with his front wing.

He lost control and struck the tyre barrier on the track's right side at a sharp angle, which deflected him across into Juan Manuel Correa's path. Correa had lost control after hitting debris from Alesi's car, and he was travelling at 218 km/h (135 mph) when he struck Hubert's near-stationary car.

Hubert's car experienced 82 g, while Correa was exposed to 65 g. Both cars were badly damaged, and Hubert was taken to the circuit's medical centre, where he died from his injuries about 90 minutes after the accident.

Correa was airlifted to Liege, where he underwent surgery and was reported to be stable, but a week later he was placed in an induced coma. Alesi was unhurt. The feature race was never completed, and the sprint race was called off as a mark of respect.

How did the paddock pay tribute to Hubert?

A minute's silence was observed on 1 September before the Formula 3 and Formula 1 races at Spa. Charles Leclerc, who won his first career race that afternoon, dedicated the win to Hubert, and a standing ovation took place on the 19th lap, matching the number of Hubert's Formula 2 car.

Before the race, safety and recovery vehicles made a lap of the circuit in his honour, and every Formula One car carried his number inside a star with the words Racing for Anthoine.

His funeral took place on 10 September at Chartres Cathedral in Eure-et-Loir. It was attended by his family and friends, and by many people from the motorsport world, including FIA president Jean Todt and Alain Prost.

His car number, 19, was later permanently retired in Formula 2, and Artem Markelov ran number 22 in place of it. On the first anniversary, many people from the paddock visited the Raidillon tyre barrier, and in 2020 Pierre Gasly wore a tribute helmet at the Belgian Grand Prix.

What did the FIA investigation recommend?

The FIA launched an investigation into the accident. The recommendations were published as a list of actions for future cars. Its findings went to the World Motor Sport Council in December 2019, and the investigation was finished in February 2020. The official cause of death, according to the FIA, was non-survivable trauma.

In May 2020 the FIA Safety Department issued recommendations for future single-seater cars, including Formula One, Formula 2, Formula 3, F4 and Formula E. They covered tethering of wings and other large components so debris could not fall off the car, which was relevant because Correa had been struck by pieces of Alesi's car.

Other recommendations focused on strengthening the cockpit, improving car-to-car compatibility, and redesigning the front wing so that it had controlled failure points. The headrest was to be redesigned to keep padding in place in a heavy crash, and an accident notification system with clearer signals was proposed.

Racing Point's technical boss Andy Green said the energy involved in the impact was huge and that no current chassis could survive that sort of hit. The recommendations also noted the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix crash of Robert Kubica, in which the car hit a wall at 230 km/h and experienced 75G.

Come October 2020, plans were revealed to reshape Raidillon, widening the run-off and bringing back gravel traps. Those upgrades were completed in early 2022.

What is Hubert's legacy?

The Anthoine Hubert Award was launched at the 2019 Formula 2 prize-giving in Monaco. It honours Hubert and goes to the top-placed driver new to the category. The inaugural recipient was Zhou Guanyu. Each year the award keeps his name in front of the category.

He is also remembered in the video game F1 2020, where he is a selectable driver.

Gasly led a paddock jog from the start-finish line back to the Raidillon tyre barrier before the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, a gesture that marked the corner where Hubert crashed.

What were Hubert's key results?