On the occasion of the return of the Belgian Grand Prix, today we take a dive back to the 2019 F1 championship, the year when Charles Leclerc triumphed for the first time in Formula 1 at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, dedicating the victory to his friend Anthoine Hubert.
Ferrari (and Charles Leclerc) break through
After a disappointing first part of the 2019 Formula 1 season, Ferrari arrived at Spa-Francorchamps with high expectations: it could be the right track for the first success of the year. In Saturday’s qualifying, Charles Leclerc delivered an absolutely dominant performance, outpacing his teammate Sebastian Vettel by seven-tenths of a second, who completed the front row.
The Monegasque repeated the feat the following day, achieving his first triumph in Formula 1, withstanding a fierce final attack from Lewis Hamilton.
“Hard to rejoice in such a weekend”
Charles Leclerc had promised himself: he had to win for Anthoine Hubert, a dear childhood friend, who had passed away less than 24 hours earlier due to a severe accident at Raidillon in Formula 2.
At the end of the race, number 16’s thoughts immediately went to the Frenchman: “First victory in Formula 1, this is for Anthoine. It’s a great feeling, but it’s hard to rejoice in such a weekend. Anyway, thanks guys, you are the best. In any case, it’s a dream come true,” he said in the final team radio.
Charles Leclerc couldn’t rejoice as much as he had imagined, but his finger pointed to the sky and his gaze on the podium were emblematic: he knew very well that Anthoine Hubert was proud of him, as were his father Hervé (lost in 2017) and his best friend Jules Bianchi (who passed away in 2015).
The Monegasque certainly managed to rejoice more a week later when he brought Scuderia Ferrari back to the top step of the podium at Monza after nine years. Since that victory, Charles Leclerc had to wait another two and a half years before achieving his third career victory on the Bahrain circuit.
Two and a half years that undoubtedly rank among the darkest ever for the Maranello team, but that is another Story (of Formula 1).
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