The Haas F1 team have signed former Alpine reserve and Le Mans 24 Hours winner Ryo Hirakawa as its own reserve driver following his practice outing at the Japanese GP.
At Suzuka, Hirakawa deputised for Alpine's Jack Doohan in FP1, partnering Pierre Gasly on his first F1 outing of the season, but has now left the team.
Haas did not have an official reserve driver named for 2025, although it had called upon Ferrari when one has been required in the past - such as in '24 when Ollie Bearman twice stepped in for Kevin Magnussen, with Bearman being a Ferrari protege.
Hirakawa is a Toyota-backed driver, and in 2022, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans aboard the Toyota Gazoo Racing machine, with former F1 racers Brendon Hartley and Sebastien Buemi.
He is also a two-time WEC champion, scooping the 2022 and 2023 crowns.
Crucially, Hirakawa, who drove for Haas in the 2024 post-season Abu Dhabi test has never started a grand prix, which makes him eligible for the mandatory FP1 rookie driver sessions that each team must take part in.
For 2025, the amount of FP1 sessions for rookie drivers has been doubled to four, with two per car, with Bearman not eligible in his rookie season having taken part in three races in 2024, with two being the limit to be classified as a rookie.
Haas has announced that Hirakawa will take part in all four of these sessions, starting in Bahrain this weekend, taking over from Bearman, which he will also do in Mexico whilst Esteban Ocon will step aside in Spain and Abu Dhabi.
Don't miss out on any of the Formula 1 action thanks to this handy 2026 F1 calendar that can be easily loaded into your smartphone or PC.
Download the calenderMost read
In this article
Join the conversation!