It is a bereaved Paul Belmondo who spoke on Instagram this Wednesday, June 29. Almost a year after the death of his father Jean-Paul Belmondo at the age of 88 and six months after the death of a close friend of his wife Luana, Paul Belmondo announced the death of the Formula 1 driver Jean Paul Libert at the age of 67. This racing driver had taken part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans eleven times. He had also launched and organized the Toyota Trophy on the Dakar before flying to the United States with his friend Eric Bachelart’s Conquest Racing.
Jean-Paul Libert is also (and above all) the one thanks to whom Paul Belmondo, the father of Victor (28 years old), Giacomo (23 years old) and Alessandro (31 years old), largely owes his passion for the automobile. Surprising coincidence: Jean-Paul Libert had the same first name as Paul’s late father. On his Instagram account, Paul Belmondo made a vibrant tribute to his mentor Jean-Paul Libert with a photo of him in black and white accompanied by this message: “Goodbye Jean-Paul, thanks to you, I became an F1 driver, you’re gone too quickly TIP Jean-Paul Libert.”
For the record, after starting a career in Formula 1, Paul Belmondo founded his own racing car team in 1998 called the Paul Belmondo Racing. This was used in championships such as the FIA GT and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Luana Belmondo’s husband then turned to an acting career like his father.
Paul Belmondo, still stunned by the death of his father
With this new loss, Paul Belmondo is again facing a terrible ordeal. Interviewed a few weeks ago by the magazine Paris Matchthe son of Jean-Paul Belmondo admitted to being still struck by the disappearance of his father. “My father is no longer there… but he is still there! (…) I may not have done my mourning yet. And then there is still this love that people had for him and whose I am the receptacle. At Nice airport, a person came to tell me that she had grown up with Jean-Paul Belmondo and that she missed him.