FIA concludes investigation into fatal Formula 2 accident in Belgium

The FIA’s Safety department has completed its investigation into the accident in the FIA Formula 2 Championship race at Spa-Francorchamps on 31 August 2019, in which French driver Anthoine Hubert suffered fatal injuries and Juan Manuel Correa from the United States was seriously injured.

The investigation included interviews with those involved, inspection of the physical evidence, analysis of available video material, as well as examination of the data from the team Data Logger and Accident Data Recorder.

The 1,000-word FIA release, which can be read in full here, catalogues in detail the sequence of events that occurred on lap 2 of the F2 feature race, including the response times of marshals and medical officials.

In summary, the findings of the investigation were:

• A chain of events resulted in a protracted and complex crash sequence involving four drivers, which ultimately led to a high-speed ‘T-Bone’ type impact between the cars of Juan Manuel Correa and Anthoine Hubert.
• The dynamics of the car-to-car impact in terms of speed and trajectory were such that an extremely high level of energy was transferred and dissipated, translating into non-survivable trauma to Anthoine Hubert and very serious injuries to Juan Manuel Correa.
• There was no single specific cause but multiple contributory factors giving rise to the severity of the accident were identified, following a detailed analysis of the various phases of the accident.
• The investigation found no evidence that any driver failed to react appropriately in response to the yellow flag signal or to the circumstances on track.
• The reaction of marshals and race control in deploying signalling and rescue services in relation to the accident was considered timely and good.

“Safety improvement is a continuous process,” concluded the FIA release, “therefore conclusions drawn from this accident and others like it from around the world will be integrated into the ongoing work of the FIA to further develop motor sport safety.”

Correa, who underwent a 17-hour surgery on his right leg in October, is continuing his rehabilitation.