F1: Lewis Hamilton Addresses Safety In F1 After Shocking Death Of Fellow Racer

Formula One icon Lewis Hamilton has addressed the topic of safety in F1 following the fatal crash of fellow racer Anthoine Hubert.

A few days ago, shocking news in F1 broke, revealing that French professional racer Hubert died in a fatal car crash. It didn’t take long for Hamilton to address the death and safety in their chosen sport.

According to Hamilton, Formula One will continue to improve safety following the death of Hubert. He also praised the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA) safety record. However, the five-time world champion urged them to remain committed to further improving the safety and security of the sport, Give Me Sport reported.

“There’s a huge amount of work that the FIA have done up to this point. They have been working incredibly hard and we’ve seen big steps already. When [former race director] Charlie Whiting was here he made massive steps forward, so we will continue in that direction,” Hamilton said.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who raced against Hubert in the junior categories of motor racing, dedicated his performance to the French racer. Leclerc put on an impressive show from pole position to take the chequered flag ahead of Hamilton, with Valtteri Bottas in third.

Instead of celebrating his victory, Leclerc pointed towards the sky during Sunday’s muted podium celebrations and later admitted his first Grand Prix win was “bittersweet.”

“On one hand a childhood dream has been realized. On the other hand it has been a very difficult weekend. I have lost a friend. I would like to dedicate my first win to him,” Leclerc said.

The Ferrari racer also reminisced on his first French championship, a special moment in his life which he shared with Hubert. “We grew up together. Losing Anthoine takes me back to 2005 and my first French championship. There was him, Esteban (Ocon – Mercedes reserve driver), Pierre (Gasly – Toro Rosso driver) and myself. We were four kids dreaming of getting to Formula One,” Leclerc added.

Hamilton was in the middle of a live television interview when he witnessed fellow driver’s fatal crash. The Formula One champion was being interviewed at the Belgian Grand Prix the moment the tragic collision happened on Saturday.

In the interview footage, Hamilton can be heard telling the interviewer, "Oh wow. Hope that kid's good. Wow. That's terrifying."

The young driver was confirmed dead by the FIA later that night, Lad Bible reported. The statement read: "The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regrets to advise that a serious incident involving cars 12, 19 and 20 occurred at 17:07 on 31/08/19 as a part of the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race at Spa-Francorchamps, round 17 of the season.”

“The scene was immediately attended by emergency and medical crews, and all drivers were taken to the medical centre,” the statement continued. “As a result of the incident, the FIA regrets to inform that the driver of car #19, Anthoine Hubert, succumbed to his injuries, and passed away at 18:35."