“Proud if he has in some way inspired some others”- Pierre Gasly is happy his best friend Anthony Hubert inspired his new teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
Yuki Tsunoda is no time grabbed his opportunity in Formula 1, where he will be replacing Daniil Kvyat to pair up with Pierre Gasly at Alpha Taurin in 2021.
Tsunoda being a rookie in F2 last year was awarded Anthony Hubert award given to the rookie of the year. After receiving the award, the Japanese driver thought about the former F2 driver who lost his life at Spa, Belgium in 2019.
Yuki Tsunoda, recipient of the Anthoine Hubert Award 🏆💕@yukitsunoda07 was our top ranked rookie of 2020, finishing P3 in the standings 👏
#AH19 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/k8lErlpKAW
— Formula 2 (@FIA_F2) December 6, 2020
“I have to work even harder to become like him. It is an honour to receive this prize,” said Yuki Tsunoda. In November, Tsunoda also talked about how his life changed after Hubert’s incident and what made him follow his footsteps.
“We tragically lost Anthoine Hubert that weekend, and he played a part in my results afterwards. I learned from him and raced for him, and in Race 2, the day after his accident, I got a podium for the first time that season.
“The round after in Monza, I got another podium and my first win. It was a real turning point for my driving performances. That made Helmut a little bit impressed.”
Pierre Gasly is glad.
Among all the drivers in F1, Gasly appeared to be the closest to Hubert, and after knowing that Hubert inspired his future teammate, he is happy about it.
“I didn’t hear these comments, but obviously it’s always nice to hear these things. I know very well Anthoine, and I’m really glad and proud if he has in some way inspired some others,” said Gasly.
“He was a really close friend of mine. It still sounds really strange to speak about him in that way and knowing that he’s not with us anymore. So I’m still not really used to that. But obviously nice words from Yuki, what he said.”
