"Everyone knows how close I was to Anthoine": Pierre Gasly talks about organizing an event in remembrance of his late friend

Pierre Gasly recently admitted to being an emotional person and spoke about how his close connection with the late Anthoine Hubert made him organize the Belgian track run as a tribute.

Speaking to the on-site media ahead of the 2023 F1 Belgian GP, Gasly remarked that Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps circuit stirs a mix of emotions within him. It is where he lost his late friend Hubert in a fatal F2 race accident in 2019. Memories of the incident and the emotions that followed plague Gasly's thoughts whenever he returns to the venue.

"I'm someone that is emotional. I think I link places with emotions, and I've had the worst emotions of my life here," he said. "But at the same time, it's one of my favourite tracks, so it's very contradictory. I love this track, and I love racing this track, but at the same time I'll never forget what I felt going down these stairs [in the paddock] when my parents told me the news. It's obviously tough, but I accept the sport that we do, and it's things you have got to live with. It's also life, as sad as it can be.”

The Frenchman stated that the thought of organizing an event in the late F2 driver’s memory was being considered for some time. The Alpine driver organized a track run event named ‘Run for Anthoine’, where paddock personnel, including teams, drivers, and media jogged the circuit with Gasly. The event was held on Thursday, July 27, ahead of the 2023 Belgian GP weekend, and received an overwhelming number of participants despite the damp weather.

“It might be small things for people, but it's a lot bigger for me, and a lot more meaningful. It was a conversation which started early in the season. Everybody knows how close I was with Anthoine and I think they all know also how close he was with the team."

"This was organised well before the tragic incident which happened a couple of weeks ago, but I just think it's great that we all as a community, when these things happen, everyone that is a part of Formula 1, whether it's F2 or F3, the racing family comes together," Pierre Gasly said.

---

Pierre Gasly believes Alpine could improve in Belgian GP

Alpine's Pierre Gasly claimed that despite their compromised grid positions, the race on July 30 could turn out positively for them. The 27-year-old exuded confidence in fighting for points finishes on Sunday.

Speaking in a press conference after the qualifying ahead of the 2023 Belgian GP, the Frenchman said:

“It’s always challenging in wet to dry conditions with things changing lap after lap. It is exciting like this as you have to be on it straight away without overstepping the mark. We probably didn’t start our final push lap in Q2 under the best conditions but, even so, we didn’t have the car set-up for these kind of conditions and that is shown in our lap-time."

"Sector 1 was quite strong for us, whereas the longer, tighter Sector 2 is where we struggled. This might be a positive by Sunday for the race, though, where we’ll be aiming to fight our way towards the points," Pierre Gasly added.

The Alpine F1 car was fitted with a new floor and a front wing ahead of the qualifying session. However, a damp free practice and limited running compromised its ability to understand its potential to the fullest. Speaking to Sportskeeda the same day, Pierre Gasly was positive that their upgrades were going to their boost their performance.