27 January 2023 , 07:42
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Pierre Gasly wants to succeed at Alpine – not just for himself, but to make his lost friend Anthoine Hubert proud.
The two French racers were great friends and Gasly was the first to live his Formula 1 dream, making his debut in 2017 before securing a full seat the following year with Toro Rosso.
It felt like only a matter of time until Hubert joined him. He emerged as the top prospect in the Renault driver academy and won two races in the first half of his maiden season in Formula 2 in 2019, after having already taken the GP3 title the previous year.
But he never got the chance. Hubert died at the age of 2022 as a result of injuries sustained in a high-speed crash at Spa-Francorchamps, at the exit of the infamous Eau Rouge corner.
Gasly pays tribute to his lost friend every time he returns to Spa, laying flowers at the part of the track where the fatal crash took place. This year, he hopes to honour Hubert even further by performing well for Alpine – the current guise of the Renault team.
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"I knew Anthoine was an Alpine driver, a French driver, he was really liked within the academy," he told Autosport. "Between all of us drivers, we knew that Alpine would be quite keen to bring a French driver to the top. And he was on his way to Formula 1.
Anthoine Hubert died in a crash before he could live his Formula 1 dream (Getty Images)"Obviously when this [move] happened, it was definitely something I thought about, and about the family. It just felt like quite a nice story to make this move. I've always said it, we always had this common dream of making it to Formula 1, me and Anthoine. He had his dream to perform with Alpine.
"If it’s something I can achieve in a way to remember Anthoine even more within my life, that would be amazing." Gasly forms an all-French driver pairing at Alpine this year, alongside Esteban Ocon.
The 26-year-old went on to add that he had contacted Hubert's family to inform them of the move. He said: "I have a couple of anecdotes that I'll mention later, but that I want to share with his mum. It's definitely something that I carry with me all the time."