Who is Ryo Hirakawa? Everything to know about F1's latest debutant for Haas

Following a number of Free Practice 1 appearances, Ryo Hirakawa will make his F1 race debut at the Mexico City Grand Prix after Haas announced on Saturday morning that the Japanese racer would replace Esteban Ocon for the remainder of the event. Here is everything you need to know about Formula 1’s latest debutant…

Gaining experience across different categories

After beginning his career by participating in karting championships in his native Japan, Hirakawa graduated to single-seaters in 2010.

From there he progressed through categories including Formula Challenge Japan and the Japanese Formula 3 Championship, winning his debut race in the latter before going on to seal the 2012 title.

Hirakawa’s next step saw him move to Super Formula in 2013, having joined the Toyota Young Driver Program. He would go on to score four wins and four pole positions across his nine years racing in the category.

The Japanese driver also competed in Super GT in the GT500 class between 2014 and 2021, a series in which he won the title in 2017.

World Endurance Championship success

Hirakawa’s racing experience expanded further when he joined the World Endurance Championship in the Hypercar class from 2022 with Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Success quickly followed, as the driver from Japan went on to win the Drivers’ Championship in his maiden season alongside team mates Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley. The squad repeated the feat again in 2023, and also scored a second consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans triumph.

Hirakawa continues to compete in the series, where the Toyota Racing team are currently leading the 2026 standings.

Arriving into Formula 1

It was announced in September 2023 that Hirakawa had joined the McLaren Driver Development programme and would also become a reserve driver for the outfit. He went on to compete in his maiden FP1 session with the squad at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hirakawa subsequently moved to Alpine for 2025 as a test and reserve driver, with his second FP1 appearance coming at the Japanese Grand Prix – but the now 32-year-old switched to Haas soon afterwards.

This led to four further practice runs in 2025 followed by another two in 2026 – with the second coming just before an unexpected call-up to the main team…

F1’s oldest debutant since 2014

One day after taking the wheel of Ocon’s car during FP1 in Mexico City, Haas released a statement confirming that Hirakawa would replace the Frenchman for the remainder of the weekend.

This makes the Japanese driver the oldest debutant in the sport since Andre Lotterer back in 2014, who was also 32 when he entered the Belgian Grand Prix for what would be his sole F1 event.

Lotterer’s day quickly came to an end when his Caterham suffered a mechanical issue just one lap in – but Hirakawa, who qualified in 19th place for his maiden event, will surely be hoping for better on Sunday in Mexico City.