Pierre Gasly on losing Anthoine Hubert: 'It took me years to process'

Pierre Gasly has opened up about his friendship with Anthoine Hubert and how he has dealt with grief since his death in 2019.

Gasly and Hubert grew up karting together and formed a strong friendship as they rose through the racing ranks.

"We were part of that programme from 10 to 15 years old," he told F1.com during an appearance on the Off The Grid series with Lawrence Barretto. "It was 15 drivers in France with potential and talent, and Anthoine was one of them.

"We were roommates. We were classmates. Taking breakfast together, going to class together, having lunch, training with each other. And if I'm doing 13 push-ups, he'll be doing 14. And then I'll go again, doing 15.

"We very much pushed each other to get more potential out of each other."

Hubert suffered a fatal crash on the second lap of the Formula 2 feature race at Spa-Francorchamps in 2019.

"I always tried to watch the F2 race, and I saw the crash, the red flag, and initially I didn't know who was involved and it looked bad. My team manager told me that Anthoine was involved.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

"As soon as I finished the briefing, I ran down to the hospitality to try to get some more info. And as I went down the stairs, I just saw in the distance my parents just broken in tears. Sadly, I just understood straight away what had happened.

"It's just pain. It was just a matter of time until Anthoine got into F1. It seemed like that was his destiny, but it wasn't the first time I had to go through these emotions with one of my closest friends.

"I had lost two years before a friend from back home, and two years later, it happens with Anthoine, with whom I was extremely close."

In the days leading up to Hubert's crash, Gasly had been demoted from Red Bull back to Toro Rosso.

"18 hours later you go to the grand prix. The only thing people could ask me for the entire weekend is how bad do you feel about the demotion etc., and you're like, the bigger picture, there is more to life than this. I've just known this guy for so long.

"We shared so many moments on track and off track. Honestly, I still can't believe it, extremely difficult to handle the emotions. I think it took me years to actually process what had happened and to sort of accept life as it is.

"You get taught a lot of stuff at school by your parents, but you never get taught how you're supposed to deal with yourself in this sort of situation.

"And one thing I regret is in Budapest, so after the race, we went to a party together with Anthoine. I didn't want to leave too late. So, I left the party earlier. I was trying to find him. I could not find him in the club.

"I walked out of the club, and then on my way out, I saw him. He was on the outside part of the club on the terrace. And I just waved at him and said, 'Bye, have a good summer, and I'll see you in Spa.'

"I never got the chance to see him again before the crash. And I wish I would have waited maybe a bit longer in the club just to hug him or say bye in a slightly different way. But it taught me to appreciate the moment we live with the people we love and to never take anything for granted."

Gasly has since organised an annual run at Spa-Francorchamps during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend in Hubert's memory.