Hubert death: FIA absolves drivers
nNEW DELHI: The FIA, world governing body for motorsports, has found ‘no single specific cause but multiple contributory factors’ in the death of Anthoine Hubert, a French F2 driver, at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix.
Hubert, 22, suffered fatal injuries after he crashed and his car was then hit by Ecuadorianamerican driver Juan Manuel Correa at Spa-francorchamps’ fast Raidillon corner in the support race on August 31. Hubert was the 2018 GP3 Series champion.
The FIA said a ‘chain of events resulted in a protracted and complex crash sequence involving four drivers’ and that Hubert died of ‘non-survivable trauma’. Correa suffered severe leg injuries. “The dynamics of the car-tocar impact in terms of speed and trajectory were such that an extremely high level of energy was transferred and dissipated, translating into non-survivable trauma to Anthoine Hubert and very serious injuries to Juan Manuel Correa,” the report summary noted.
The FIA said the accident sequence lasted 14.6 seconds and started when Giuliano Alesi spun off backwards into the barriers at the exit to Eau Rouge on lap two.
It found “a reasonable probability” that Alesi’s accident was triggered by a loss of pressure of the car’s right rear tyre.
“The investigation found no evidence that any driver failed to react appropriately in response to the yellow flag signal or to the circumstances on track,” the report said.
“The reaction of marshals and race control in deploying signaling and rescue services in relation to the accident is considered timely and good.”