The RB team is having an all-Japanese line-up for the first free practice session. Iwasa will be joining regular driver Yuki Tsunoda in the VCARB 01 car during their home round.
Iwasa is a Red Bull Junior driver. He’s getting his first chance to drive in a Formula 1 session this year. He’s one of the young drivers that Red Bull is keeping an eye on. Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar are also part of this group.
“I am very happy to be able to participate in an official F1 session in my home country,” Iwasa said. “I am excited to be able to take the first step toward the realization of my dream – winning races and capturing the world championship title for many consecutive years in F1, the world’s most prestigious series.”
Iwasa had his first taste of F1 testing last November at the Abu Dhabi Young Driver test. He did well there, according to the team principal Laurent Mekies. Since then, he has been working in the team’s simulator, which helps the engineers prepare for races.
Iwasa is currently racing in Japan’s Super Formula series. He finished ninth in his debut at Suzuka, which was his first race with Mugen as the top rookie.
Before this, Iwasa won the 2020 French F4 championship. He then moved up to F3 with Hitech and spent two years in F2 with DAMS. Last year, he finished fourth in the championship with three wins.
Red Bull is still focused on training young drivers even though they are not a pure Red Bull junior team anymore. They want to have one younger driver and one more experienced driver on their team.
Red Bull has a testing program called TPC (testing of a previous car). This program allows drivers to privately test the 2022 cars, which are similar to the current cars. Bayer, the CEO, mentioned that they have a big program for Liam, Isack, and potentially Iwasa. They want to make sure these drivers get as much practice as possible.
Also read: Horner Doesn’t Dismiss Possibility of Sainz Joining Red Bull in F1
