‘This one’s for Anthoine’: Charles Leclerc’s ‘bittersweet’ victory at Spa in 2019
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Charles Leclerc
Next weekend, we return to Belgium. There have been many rumours surrounding Spa’s future in Formula 1, with some suggesting that it may be on its way out and that it will not remain on the calendar for 2023, so this may well be the last race in Belgium for a while, and fans would want to enjoy it the best as they can.
Last year, of course, there was barely a race. It started and ended behind the safety car, due to very heavy rain conditions, and the points distributed were halved. One would hope that this would not repeat, especially as this may be the last Spa race for a while. It would be an utter tragedy if it happened again.
The 2019 Belgian Grand Prix weekend was one marred with tragedy. French F2 driver, Anthoine Hubert lost his life during the F2 feature race this weekend, in an incident involving him, Juan Manuel Correa, and Giuliano Alesi. Alesi was unharmed, while Correa had fractures in both of his legs. It was truly one of Formula 1’s darkest days.
Charles Leclerc: “Difficult to enjoy [the victory] on a weekend like this”
It was a very emotional weekend for Charles Leclerc. He and Anthoine Hubert knew each other well, having karted together, and Leclerc considered Hubert to be a good friend. One cannot even begin to imagine how hard it would’ve been to drive with your friend’s memories in your head.
Charles Leclerc took pole and was comfortable for most of the race, except for a late challenge from Lewis Hamilton. He was able to hold it off to take his first-ever victory, on a weekend where he admitted that it was hard to enjoy it. Speaking on the team radio, he said:
“Congratulations. Yes. My first victory in F1, this one is for Anthoine. It feels good but yeah, difficult to enjoy on a weekend like this.” he did thank his team, saying: “But thanks for everything guys. You’re the best, [it] is a dream true come anyways.”
In his post-race interview, he said: “Yeah, on one hand, I’ve got a dream since being a child that has been realized, on the other hand, it has been a very difficult weekend since yesterday. We have lost a friend, first of all, but yeah it’s very difficult in this situation, so yeah, I would like to dedicate my first win to him. We grew up together, my first ever race, I did it with Anthoine.”
He concluded by saying that he could not really (understandably) enjoy the victory: “So I can’t enjoy my victory fully, but it will definitely be a memory I’ll keep forever.” Charles Leclerc had been in a similar situation two years, when his father died, and two days later, he won the Azerbaijan feature race in F2.
Going into Belgium, Ferrari and Leclerc would definitely be seeking a victory. He is currently 80 points behind Max Verstappen in the championship, and it seems he will have to wait longer for a world championship, but they would still want to do the best they can, and hold off the challenges from others, especially Mercedes.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)