Hubert races to first victory of the year in Monaco

He converted pole position in the sprint race to the victory in a tense showdown that saw him win by less than 0.1 seconds on the iconic streets. It was BWT Arden’s first victory of the season while Hubert also became the first rookie in the championship to take a victory in 2019.

The FIA Formula 2 headed to the prestigious streets of Monte-Carlo for round four of the 2019 championship.

Hubert and Banbury team-mate Tatiana Calderon both made their debut on the legendary street circuit.

Reigning GP3 Champion Hubert made a brilliant start from pole to lead the field at the start of the sprint race. Calderon held her own in the opening lap of the race as the field filtered through the notoriously difficult streets.

Hubert extended his lead out front, before Calderon was hit by Luca Ghiotto into Mirabeau corner, forcing her into the barriers and bringing out the first safety car of the race.

Hubert made a great restart to hold the lead and again assume control of the race at the front of the pack. The Frenchman reeled off a series of fastest laps to open out a buffer to his rivals behind.

His hard work was undone however on lap nine, as the safety car was deployed for the second time due to an accident at the Fairmont Hairpin. But Hubert made no mistake on the second restart, before settling back into a rhythm in the lead of the race.

He managed the gap ahead of nearest rival Louis Deletraz, keeping him more than one second behind and out of the threat of DRS from behind.

As the laps ticked down, Deletraz began to gain on Hubert, piling on enormous pressure in the closing stages of the race. Hubert had his mirrors filled with the Carlin driver in the final laps, with his tyres fading rapidly.

But Hubert held on to the lead, despite a scary over-steer moment on the final corner, winning an incredible tense race by less than 0.1 seconds.