WATCH: Charles Leclerc’s emotional first F1 win at Spa after losing his close friend Anthoine Hubert 

It was in 2019 that Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon, and Pierre Gasly lost their beloved friend and F2 driver, Anthoine Hubert. Hubert died in a horrific accident in Spa while driving at 160mph and hitting the barrier.

Charles Leclerc dedicated his first F1 victory to Anthoine Hubert, though he was not able to completely enjoy the maiden win as he was yet to assimilate his childhood friend's untimely demise.

Here is a video of Charles Leclerc bringing the car home, celebrating his first-ever win in F1, and showing off a sticker that said, "Driving for Anthoine".

Leclerc won after a fantastic drive at the 2019 Belgian GP. But he also acknowledged the fact that racing would inevitably include the chance of crashes and the element of danger to a race driver's life.

The 21-year-old French driver beat Mercedes driver and then-reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton at Spa. He spoke of how difficult it had been for him to drive without thinking about how his childhood friend died in an F2 race on the very same track.

Speaking to the media after his win, Charles Leclerc said:

“I can’t fully enjoy my first victory but it is a memory that will live with me forever.”

As Leclerc, Gasly, and Ocon, along with the whole racing fraternity, mourned for the fallen driver, this is what Leclerc had to say about his friend's death:

“We have lost a friend first of all and it’s very difficult in these situations, so I would like to dedicate this win to him.”

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Charles Leclerc and Anthoine Hubert dreamt of making it big in F1 since their childhood

F1 Grand Prix of Belgium

Since they began racing together when they were seven years old, Charles Leclerc and Anthoine Hubert have remained close friends and share the same aspiration to compete in Formula 1.

Sharing his fond childhood memories of Hubert, Charles reminisced:

"There was him, Esteban [Ocon], Pierre [Gasly] and myself. We were four kids that were dreaming of Formula One. We grew up in karting for many many years."

Considered one of the most dangerous tracks in Formula Racing, Spa goes down in history as one of the most punishing and accident-prone tracks for a race car driver. The track not only tests a driver's physical prowess but also their mental strength.

This year, Spa witnessed the death of Dilano Van't Hoff. Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali tweeted:

"We are so sad to learn of the passing of Dilano van 't Hoff today at Spa-Francorchamps. Dilano died in pursuit of his dream to reach the pinnacle of motorsport. Along with the entire motorsport community, our thoughts are with his family and loved ones."

Van't Hoff's car was one of the cars involved in the multi-car collision that happened when Tim Tramnitz lost control over his car at the top of Raidillion.

The Dutchman might have lost control of his car in the chaos of the first collision and was hit by a speeding rival car as his car stopped in the middle of the straight.