Charles Leclerc – “Difficult to Enjoy First Win But it is Dedicated to Anthoine Hubert”

Charles Leclerc has finally done it. He has taken his first victory in Formula One while also taking the first victory for Ferrari in 2019. It is not an ideal weekend where he would have preferred to take his first win, but better late than never.

This victory will forever be remembered by Leclerc not only for the fact that this was his first race victory, but also for the fact that on this weekend he lost his childhood friend, Anthoine Hubert, the F2 driver who was died yesterday following a horrid crash in Spa. Post his race victory, Leclerc mentioned on the radio that it isn’t easy for him to enjoy this race, no matter how much he wanted it.

https://twitter.com/Insidef1/status/1168172235565101056

It shows incredible character on Leclerc’s side to perform the way he did. He was constantly under pressure from Lewis Hamilton, who if not for Sebastian Vettel’s sacrificing defence, would have finished ahead. It came down to the very last lap and Lewis would have needed just half a more lap to take the race victory.

Post the race victory, during the interviews, Leclerc revealed Anthoine was his childhood friend. He had his first race with him and cherished a lot many memories with him. He dedicated his first victory to him and revealed the difficulty he’s had in coping up with the loss. The minute he stepped out of the car, he looked into the heavens as if he was calling out Hubert.

https://twitter.com/Insidef1/status/1168174369471811585

As for the rest of the grid, Valtteri Bottas completed the podium on third while Sebastian Vettel took fourth. Vettel was screwed over by Ferrari’s strategies and the way that they always react so late. Following Vettel was the Red Bull debutant Alex Albon who sneaked in the position after penultimate lap retirement of Norris and later overtaking Perez for the position.

Max Verstappen was out of the race within the first few corners having had a collision with Kimi Raikkonen.