- 261
- Lisbon
Anthoine Hubert, Juan Manuel Correa Incident
- Thread starter BrainsBush
- 108 comments
- 6,452 views
- 9,262
- Corsham
- lipming
In the coverage you can see Alesi losing control in front of Hubert and Correa through Radillon as it goes out of shot, when the camera pans round it shows those two going into the barriers.
EDIT: There's spectator footage showing Hubert rear-ending Alesi and then Correa running into him at full speed.
- 1,561
- United States
Just saw the accident. That'll cast a shadow on the weekend for sure. I often remark how fortunate we are with the safety of motorsports nowdays. We can watch what "look" like horrendous impacts and I'm often quite sure the driver is okay (even if injured - ankles, pelvis, etc.). Watching that particularly impact though, a different story. I've no idea who Antoine Hubert is, but it's sad to see someone young taken like that. I feel almost worse for the driver who survived the crash - my assumption is that the killed driver was in the first car that spun back onto the track? Always a terrible time for the survivor of a crash like that. Sad day for motorsport.
DriftShock
(Banned)
- 190
- Carlton, East Yorkshire
- GSRT_MiraiNG
- GAMERSWORLDxX
That’s a good point. Imagine being Correa, sat in your hospital bed, being treated for two broken legs... and then being told that the driver you had no chance of avoiding has been killed, because you had no chance to avoid them. I feel very sorry for both drivers and neither of them deserved this. Especially not Correa, who witnessed another driver die before his very eyes
- 2,422
- Paris
- Milouse
- Milouse
I really liked this guy, we saw him a lot on french tv coverage of previous races. I heard the sad news on the radio as I recorded the race to watch later. They said this between two other news, and it sounds surreal as the channel news hierarchy doesn't match mine at all here.
I always take safety for almost granted in top series nowadays, how wrong I am...
I always take safety for almost granted in top series nowadays, how wrong I am...
FUNanywhere
(Banned)
- 654
- India
RIP 
- 12,618
- United Kingdom
I hope the marshals on that post are getting looked after tonight. Having dealt with a fatality myself in the past, it's a horrible feeling. They can rest easy though knowing that the impact was what did the fatal damage, and that there was pretty much nothing they could do to save Hubert.
And this kind of incident is why my stance in issues such as circuit safety and the Halo are as they are. Everyone here is shocked and horrified at this accident and death. The FIA don't want fatal crashes like this all the time, which is why they only race at circuits with acceptable and sturdy runoff areas, why the cars have massive safety cells and why the Halo exists. Because aesthetics is a stupid argument against a life saving device.
This crash was a combination of bad luck, and it was only really fatal because the safety cell had to survive two hits, one to the tyres and one at 170mph by a pointy nose. The Halo was not a factor (Although it probably stopped Hubert's engine hitting Correa in the face), circuit design was unfortunate in that the tyres bounced the car into the path of another one.
The lessons from this are "Can we make the survival cell survive multiple big hits, rather than just the one" and "Is it time to considers Eau Rouge too dangerous?". These aren't easy questions to answer, and the second one is definitely a controversial one, but the Safety crusade is there for a reason and we just need to accept that sometimes, the cars have to look a bit crap if you don't want to read about a young up-and-coming racer meeting a violent and early end to his life doing what he loves.
RIP Anthoine Hubert.
And this kind of incident is why my stance in issues such as circuit safety and the Halo are as they are. Everyone here is shocked and horrified at this accident and death. The FIA don't want fatal crashes like this all the time, which is why they only race at circuits with acceptable and sturdy runoff areas, why the cars have massive safety cells and why the Halo exists. Because aesthetics is a stupid argument against a life saving device.
This crash was a combination of bad luck, and it was only really fatal because the safety cell had to survive two hits, one to the tyres and one at 170mph by a pointy nose. The Halo was not a factor (Although it probably stopped Hubert's engine hitting Correa in the face), circuit design was unfortunate in that the tyres bounced the car into the path of another one.
The lessons from this are "Can we make the survival cell survive multiple big hits, rather than just the one" and "Is it time to considers Eau Rouge too dangerous?". These aren't easy questions to answer, and the second one is definitely a controversial one, but the Safety crusade is there for a reason and we just need to accept that sometimes, the cars have to look a bit crap if you don't want to read about a young up-and-coming racer meeting a violent and early end to his life doing what he loves.
RIP Anthoine Hubert.
- 499
- LR-MR-Cole
Just want to take a moment and say a word and a prayer for French racing driver Anthonie Hubert who has succumbed to his injuries sustained at the Spa Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium this afternoon. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
- 5,551
- Controls set for heart of sun
- GTP_RogerTheHors
I'm afraid this isn't the first serious accident we've seen at Eau Rouge and Raidillon in the past few years and if anything this to me is a confirmation of my fears about those corners. As unpopular as it'll be amongst certain people I think there's likely to be some major changes at those corners in the near future. Probably increased runoff, possibly a reprofiling to slow cars down
Personally I've seen or heard about one too many scary crashes through there to be comfortable with the current state of affairs and this terrible, tragic incident feels sadly all too expected.
It doesn't have to be a disaster for Spa though. As cars have gotten faster and the complex's profile has changed the challenge has only diminished with time. While it may be unpopular with spectators there is the potential that a reprofiling could slow cars down while restoring some of the challenge.
But I'm no expert on the matter. All I can do at the moment is feel sad about today's events and express my sympathies to those affected directly by this horrible occurance.
Personally I've seen or heard about one too many scary crashes through there to be comfortable with the current state of affairs and this terrible, tragic incident feels sadly all too expected.
It doesn't have to be a disaster for Spa though. As cars have gotten faster and the complex's profile has changed the challenge has only diminished with time. While it may be unpopular with spectators there is the potential that a reprofiling could slow cars down while restoring some of the challenge.
But I'm no expert on the matter. All I can do at the moment is feel sad about today's events and express my sympathies to those affected directly by this horrible occurance.
- 20,681
- TenEightyOne
- TenEightyOne
It will be interesting to see if there are proposals to expand the runoff to the right of the track (on the left in the attached picture), there's certainly room to do it in a way that might aid track infrastructure rather than hinder it. The second pit lane exit would be in no-man's-land but I don't see that being a problem.
- 3,734
- St.Pete, FL
- NotThePrez
- NotThePrez
Just watched the replay. This is probably going to sound terrible, but I would've been shocked if the man survived that crash, albeit pleasantly shocked. After the second hit, there was absolutely nothing left of that car, and based my limited knowledge of how the F2 cars are built, it looks like even the safety cell failed to stay together. The G-forces must've been absolutely insane for that level of damage. Other than making the saftey cell strong enough to take multiple high-G hits, I'm not sure what can necessarily be changed going forward. Just looks like bad luck was a bigger factor more than anything. A dark reminder that while motor racing is insanely safe nowadays, the risk of serious injury or worse will still be there as long as there are human drivers, and the drivers get into their cars with that fact at the back of their heads.
GodSpeed Anthoine Hubert. Hoping for the best for his family, friends, and everyone up and down the Formula 2 paddock.
GodSpeed Anthoine Hubert. Hoping for the best for his family, friends, and everyone up and down the Formula 2 paddock.
- 1,402
- United Kingdom
- evildave333
A dark day for motorsport today, thankfully not more than one fatality... the halo saved correa's life which is a blessing. Maybe they should consider further developments for side impact protection after this to save future drivers from a similar fate.
- 4,434
- Netherlands
- PaMu1337
I believe the terrain goes down quite steeply just behind the barriers, so it might be quite hard to extend it.
But judging by the number of accidents that happen there, which are often quite heavy, something should happen to that runoff.
Cars often bounce back quite close to (or even onto) the track, and people often go wide there. Today the two unfortunately happened at the same time.
- 9,262
- Corsham
- lipming
It's hard to tell from the footage but the cockpit may have been exposed after the side-pods were ripped off.
- 939
- Zürich
In this instance IMO it's not about multiple big hits, it's about one very very big one at the point where the car is at the weakest. Honestly if the car had simply slid without impact but then rolled into the path of the oncoming car then the result would have been pretty much the same. 170 MpH with a "pointy nose" into the side of a stationary car is always going to end badly regardless.
I think it's long been considered too dangerous. Let's face it a car loads up, unloads, loads up, and unloads again while doing close to 200 MpH and this is not just left and right, it's up and down as well. Add to that that the run off areas are at best inadequate and at worst next to non existent. Yep in my mind Eau Rouge (actually the Raidillon swerves in this case) is/are dangerous - too dangerous.
- 12,618
- United Kingdom
Oh dont worry, I wrote an article on this exact subject last year on Race Department.
https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/is-eau-rouge-too-dangerous.150739/
- 3,734
- St.Pete, FL
- NotThePrez
- NotThePrez
Looks like tomorrows F2 Sprint race'll be cancelled in light of the accident.
- 31,104
- Hilversum
- Dennisch
If you want to make motorsports safe you need to remove the speed. Period.
Heavy objects at speed are dangerous objects.
It looked like that Hubert's car was completely open on the side where he was hit, so it's fairly certain that he was directly hit by Correa's car. You can't build a car that will survive that without making it ridiculously large or heavy build.
Heavy objects at speed are dangerous objects.
It looked like that Hubert's car was completely open on the side where he was hit, so it's fairly certain that he was directly hit by Correa's car. You can't build a car that will survive that without making it ridiculously large or heavy build.
- 20,681
- TenEightyOne
- TenEightyOne
CodeRedR51
Premium
- 55,260
- United States
For me, open wheel cars are inherently dangerous and will never be 100% safe.
- 3,128
- Wise, VA
- Panoz-38
I'm believe the runoff done more harm than good in the accident. Hubert's car didn't bounce back on to the actual track itself but on the runoff/secondary pit lane exit. Sadly Correa went wide into the runoff area to possibly avoid another accident and tragedy stuck the nearly stopped Hubert.
Godspeed Anthoine Hubert.
Godspeed Anthoine Hubert.
- 84,365
- Rule 12
- GTP_Famine
From the images I've seen, there is almost no left-hand side of the car, and everything from the left side of the driver's head down to the left side of his ribs is entirely exposed. However that seems to be after the collision between the two cars. I wouldn't advise seeking the images or video out.
When I first saw it, the crash looked pretty spectacularly innocuous - the rear and front of the car separating looked violent, but of course it reduces the proportion of energy from the collision transferred to the driver. The grandstand shot shows the crash for what it is: a 170mph t-bone after a primary 170mph spin into the tyre barriers.
I doubt that on its own a t-bone at that speed can be made survivable, much less on an already compromised vehicle.
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- 1,561
- United States
As Famine stated, what I saw was a 150+ mph t-bone incident. I can see that happening in any number of motorsports, with similar results. Even if you had no intrusion into the tub (which I doubt), the sheer velocity and impact forces of that are almost impossible to survive. Zanardi lost his legs in a similar incident. Almost no one would walk away from that, regardless or car or track.
- 2,295
- Indiana
- pie4july
That reply is the most horrific crash I've seen in quite sometime. His car literally was cut in half.
