In motor racing, Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsport, but to get there, drivers have to go through a few feeder series first. For the past couple of years, FIA Formula 2 has been F1’s main feeder series, and all three of F1’s 2019 rookies have graduated from there at the end of last year.

Now, a new season has begun and the championship is being led by Nyck de Vries. However, during the Belgian F2 Grand Prix race, there was a horrific accident involving three cars. The drivers who were caught up in the accident were, Anthoine Hubert, Juan Manuel Correa Giuliano Alesi and Marino Sato.

The frightening incident was so bad that the officials elected to cancel the feature race entirely. While the cause of the crash is unknown, some say that one of the cars was off the racing line.

Evidently, Hubert, Sato, Alesi and Correa carried too much speed through Eau Rouge and Raidillon. Also, since one of the cars was off the racing line, the tangle would have been eventual.

The only ray of good news was that Marino Sato and Giuliano Alesi were able to escape from the car, having avoided the brunt of the accident. Unfortunately, Anthoine Hubert and Alfa Romeo development driver, Juan Manuel Correa, got the worst of it.

While much is yet to be known, on track fans have been posting images and videos online. This is what a reddit user posted:

“Tons of emergency personnel on place, huge F2 crash. This looks really really bad. There are tents around the cars.”

UPDATE: It is with regret that we have to announce that FIA has declared Anthoine Hubert dead. He succumbed to his injuries roughly an hour after his accident. The intensity of the crash as reported by fans on the circuit or through videos painted a very dark image from the very beginning. Tributes have been pouring in for the late Frenchman, but we hope his family and friends find the strength to pull through in this time of difficulty.

As for the other driver involved, Juan Manuel Correa, he was declared stable after being rushed to the hospital. He was treated for multiple fractures and injuries and is now in intensive care. It was later confirmed that he fractured both legs and suffered minor spinal injuries.

This is truly a dark time for the world of motor sport. Incidents like these should not happen. They tell us how much at risk these drivers are at every second, every corner, every turn. This is a time for all of us to come together and realise that these drivers deserve more credit than what we give them.

Sunday’s F2 race was also cancelled, out of respect for the fallen Anthoine Hubert. So, in other words, the F2 action will resume in Monza next weekend. Hubert departed this world with two wins in the 2019 F2 series.