What a wild turn of events for Ryo Hirakawa. The 32-year-old Japanese driver completed his very first Formula 1 appearance at the Mexico City Grand Prix and capped it off by climbing into the points, calling the entire experience his dream.
It all started on Saturday morning when Haas handed the driver a late call-up to replace Esteban Ocon at the American outfit. This came after Hirakawa had already logged laps during Free Practice 1 as a designated rookie driver. Following another hour of practice, he qualified P19, though a penalty for Liam Lawson pushed him up one spot higher on the grid for the start of his maiden grand prix.
I think I just need to taste this moment. I'm really happy, today was my dream,
Sunday brought a grueling 71-lap race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, where Hirakawa battled deep in the midfield. His primary objective was simple: see the chequered flag and learn. Crossing the line P13 on the road felt like a solid achievement in itself, but the classification sheets had a massive bonus waiting for him.
Post-race time penalties handed to Oscar Piastri and the two Alpines driven by Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly propelled Hirakawa all the way up to P10. That promotion placed him into an exclusive club of drivers who managed to score points on their very first F1 outing.
Reflecting on the chaos of the race, Hirakawa admitted the initial launch was tricky. "Was a lot of things to do, especially the start and lap one, it was not easy," he said. "Especially here going to Turn 1 is so long you think about a lot of braking points, the cars side by side, in front, behind. So I think the start I took too much margin because I really wanted to finish the race because I want to learn. But it is what it is."
He continued to absorb everything he could from his rivals as the laps ticked down. "After that I was trying to learn from the others what they are doing. Maybe the first stint was really tough, we didn't have the pace but I learnt a lot. After the Safety Car with the C5 [tyre], then I had more confidence and passed two cars. I'm happy to finish like that."
Whether this turns into a longer stint remains entirely unwritten. Haas has yet to confirm their driver line-up for this coming weekend in Brazil, and Hirakawa was originally scheduled to compete for Toyota in the World Endurance Championship, where the title remains up for grabs. For now, the driver is simply taking it all in, knowing this might stand as his one and only grand prix appearance.
"I think I just need to taste this moment. I'm really happy, today was my dream," he said. "Just enjoy this moment and see what we can do."
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