Emotional Charles Leclerc dedicates first F1 win to Anthoine Hubert

Wearing a black armband as he stood on the top step of a Formula One podium for the first time in his career, Charles Leclerc pointed to the sky to acknowledge Anthoine Hubert, the young French driver killed at Spa-francorchamps on Saturday.

There was no customary champagne-spraying. The motor racing world was in mourning.

“On one hand a childhood dream has been realised,” Leclerc said. “On the other hand it has been a very difficult weekend. I have lost a friend. I would like to dedicate my first win to him.”

Two hours earlier, Leclerc, who grew up racing Hubert, had lined shoulder to shoulder with the sport’s grief-ridden community for an emotional one-minute silence in honour of his contemporary.

The 22-year-old Hubert died at 6.35pm on Saturday following a catastrophic 160mph Formula Two crash at the fearsome Eau Rouge corner.

Hubert’s distraught mother, Nathalie, took centre stage on the grid. Dressed in a green jumper, blue jeans, and hiding her eyes behind a dark pair of sunglasses, Nathalie was at the scene of her son’s death after making the five-hour car journey from her home outside Paris to Belgium.

Nathalie held her son’s pink and white crash helmet. Hubert’s brother Victhor, who was trackside with father Francois as Saturday’s tragedy unfolded, cried as he stood alongside her. Formula One drivers, team bosses and dignitaries formed an arc around the mother and son as silence fell over the Ardennes forest.

Leclerc hugged Hubert’s mother. Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto then put an arm around his young star. Speaking prior to the race, Binotto said: “It is not easy for Charles. He knew Hubert very well, but he also knows a win is the best way to keep his head up.”