Before his untimely death, Anthoine Hubert was the star talent in Renault’s young driver programme, now renamed the Alpine Academy, having won the GP3 title in 2018 before moving up to Formula 2 the following year. In 2019, the Frenchman won the Monaco and Paul Ricard rounds before dying in a crash during the feature race at Spa.
After having worked their way up in the preparatory motorsport series and having attended the same school together set up by the French federation to favor their progression, Gasly and Hubert had formed a deep bond of friendship.
In 2023, Gasly will ride for Alpine following his move from AlphaTauri and admitted he “immediately thought” of Hubert’s connection to the French outfit when talks of a move began.
“I knew Anthoine was an Alpine driver, a French driver, and that he was highly regarded within the academy,” Gasly told Motorsport.com in an end-of-season interview.
“All of us drivers knew that Alpine would be very interested in taking a French driver to the top. And he was on his way to Formula 1.”
“Obviously, when my switch took place [dall’AlphaTauri all’Alpine]is something I’ve been thinking about, as well as the [sua] family. Being able to take this step seemed like a good story to me”.
“I’ve always said it, Anthoine and I have always had the common dream of getting to Formula 1. He had the dream of racing with Alpine. If it’s something I can achieve so that I remember Anthoine even more in my life , would be great”.
Pierre Gasly lays flowers in memory of Anthoine Hubert in Spa
Photo by: Jean Petin / Motorsport Images
Gasly’s move to Alpine for 2023 came following the shock departure of Fernando Alonso to Aston Martin, in a deal that freed him from Red Bull F1 ties despite still having a year left on his contract. This year he will form an all-French team at Alpine together with Esteban Ocon.
Gasly said he contacted Hubert’s family soon after signing the deal with Alpine, but was keen to spend some time with them over the winter break.
“I have a couple of anecdotes that I’ll tell later, but I want to share with his mother,” Gasly said.
“It’s definitely something I always carry with me.”
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