Daniel Ricciardo pondered withdrawing from Belgian GP after Anthoine Hubert death

Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo pondered withdrawing from Belgian GP

Matthew Scott

Sunday 1 September 2019 19:10

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Daniel Ricciardo has confirmed he considered withdrawing from the Belgian Grand Prix after Renault junior driver Anthoine Hubert was killed in Saturday's Formula 2 race.

Hubert died after a high-speed collision on lap two of the feature race with Juan Manuel Correa, who required emergency surgery after suffering leg and spinal injuries.

Renault cancelled all media commitments after Saturday's F1 qualifying, and Ricciardo admitted that racing had not been in his thoughts in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

"I'm glad today is over. I'm glad the race is over," he said.

"I know, weirdly enough, the best way we can show our respect was to race today, but I don't think any of us actually wanted to be here, or wanted to race. At least, I'm speaking for myself, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.

"It was tough. It was certainly tough to be here and try and put on a brave face for everyone. I know a lot of people in the paddock are hurting.

"I think everyone's relieved it's done and we can move on from here and hopefully it's the last time this stuff happens."

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Ricciardo said that when his thoughts turned to not racing, seeing the Frenchman's family's reaction to the tragedy gave him courage.

"You question, 'is it really worth it?' for sure, because at the end of the day, it's a simple question but it's a pretty honest one as well," he said.

"Yeah, it's our job and it's our profession and it's our life, but also it's still just racing cars around in circles.

"To be honest, seeing some of his family here today, that's what gave me more strength than anything else.

"Taking my hat off to them doesn't do it justice. I don't know what to say, I could not imagine being in their position. I felt they were a lot stronger than any of us today."

Ricciardo finished in 14th place after an opening-lap collision with Lance Stroll.