Racing Bulls will have Ayumu Iwasa driving in FP1 at Suzuka
The Japanese driver will replace Daniel Ricciardo to form a 100% Japanese duo with his compatriot Yuki Tsunoda for the first free practice session in Japan.
After Ferrari in Jeddah with Oliver Bearman, Racing Bulls will become the second team to field a rookie during an official session this season at Suzuka. Each team is required to offer young drivers the opportunity to take part in two free practice sessions during the year. The team led by Frenchman Laurent Mekies will therefore have Japanese driver Ayumu Iwasa on track in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Member of the Red Bull Junior program since 2021, the 22-year-old driver will take the wheel of Daniel Ricciardo’s single-seater to form, for the duration of a test session, a 100% Japanese duo with Yuki Tsunoda, who is currently in his fourth season with the team based in Faenza.
Currently competing in Super Formula where he races alongside Théo Pourchaire, Iwasa has won five races in Formula 2 over the past two seasons before returning home. It will not be the first time he steps into an F1 car as he had participated, with AlphaTauri, in the young driver test after the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
After the 2019 edition of the Japanese Grand Prix, it will be the second time that Red Bull Racing’s sister team will have a Japanese driver during a free practice session at Suzuka. At the time, when he was with Toro Rosso, Pierre Gasly had handed his steering wheel to Naoki Yamamoto, a Honda driver in Super GT and a three-time Super Formula champion.
After Yuki Tsunoda’s impressive seventh place finish in Melbourne, Racing Bulls is currently sixth in the constructors’ championship.
