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Ryo Hirakawa is about to get his first taste of a Grand Prix weekend under the most intense circumstances imaginable, stepping into the Haas VF-26 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez to replace Esteban Ocon. At 32 years old, Hirakawa's relatively short-notice debut includes running in FP1, but history shows us that being thrown into the deep end of Formula 1 on short notice is a truly wild rite of passage.
Take Stephane Sarrazin back at the 1999 Brazilian Grand Prix. Drafted in by Minardi to replace Luca Badoer after the Italian regular suffered a wrist injury, Sarrazin qualified a respectable 18th, ahead of team mate Marc Gene. Unfortunately, his race ended in a dramatic accident midway through proceedings when he went off through the final corner at high speed, looping the Minardi several times before coming to a safe halt in what proved to be his first and only F1 race.
Then there is Andre Lotterer at the 2014 Belgian GP. Following success in Super GT, Super Formula, and Le Mans, Lotterer was drafted in by the ailing Caterham squad after management changes. Despite the slow and underdeveloped CT05 being a hopeless cause, Lotterer fared well by out-qualifying regular Marcus Ericsson in wet conditions, though a mechanical problem halted him after only the first lap.
Stoffel Vandoorne faced an even crazier turnaround at the 2016 Bahrain GP. After receiving an urgent call while preparing for a Super Formula campaign in Japan, Vandoorne took an overnight flight where he effectively read the manual of McLaren's MP4-31, arriving just hours before practice to replace the injured Fernando Alonso. Vandoorne qualified in 12th position, ahead of team mate Jenson Button, and ran a solid race to round out the top 10 and pick up a point.
Nyck de Vries had a similarly frantic Saturday at the 2022 Italian GP. Having already participated in FP1 for Aston Martin, de Vries found himself behind the wheel of Williams' FW44 after Alex Albon was ruled out due to appendicitis. Benefiting from engine penalties elsewhere, he started eighth on the grid and raced competently to pick up two points for ninth position.
Most recently, Ollie Bearman got a message on Saturday morning during his sophomore Formula 2 campaign in Saudi Arabia to parachute in for Ferrari. Replacing Carlos Sainz—who was taken unwell because of appendicitis—Bearman qualified in 11th position and went on to take a creditable seventh place, becoming the youngest driver to score points for Ferrari before later joining Haas full-time.
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