Prost: 22 is much too young

Alain Prost says motor racing must continue improving safety standards following the tragic death of F2 racer Anthoine Hubert.

Hubert was killed at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit on Saturday as he hit the barrier and spun back across the track were he was T-boned by Juan Manual Correa.

It was evident to anyone watching that it was a serious accident and the race was immediately cancelled.

Hubert succumbed to his injuries while Correa remains in intensive care having suffered leg fractures and a “minor” spinal injury.

“It is a hard day for the racing community,” Prost told Motorsport.com. “It was very sad and very tough for us.

“As you know, he was a member of our Academy, and it was a tough day with the family there and friends and brother.

“It is something that I personally remember what we got in the 1980s. We always think that it cannot happen any more, but yes it can happen.

“We know motor racing is dangerous. A lot of sports are dangerous anyway, and maybe motor racing is one of the safety sports.

“You can see in bicycle [cycling] that we had two young guys dead, and it always happens to young people.

“It is very tough but we can see we are all together and we need to make things even better, improving better.

“But we love this sport, we love life.”

Prost knew Hubert well, working alongside him at the Renault driver academy.

He revealed that only hours before Saturday’s accident, he had helped his countryman secure a place on the 2020 F2 grid.

He added: “I pushed him in the Academy, we were talking very often. He was a nice kid, very intelligent, very clever, very curious.

“He did some tests in F1 this year with us in Austria. We had a programme already fixed since yesterday [Saturday] in F2 next year.

“We wanted to help him maybe until F1, so it is very sad. There are no words.

“22 is much too young I am sure.”

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