Who is Ayumu Iwasa? The Red Bull junior replacing Max Verstappen today at F1 Bahrain GP

Ayumu Iwasa, RB, VCARB, Japan, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Bahrain Grand Prix

Who is Ayumu Iwasa? The Red Bull junior replacing Max Verstappen today at F1 Bahrain GP

Max Verstappen is being replaced for FP1 at the Bahrain GP by Ayumu Iwasa

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Friday 11 April 2025 12:50

Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa will be replacing four-time champion Max Verstappen at the wheel of the RB21 during a grand prix practice session this weekend.

Here is everything you need to know about Iwasa, the team's junior star who is set to replace Verstappen behind the wheel of the Red Bull machinery during FP1 today at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Ahead of the fourth round of the 2025 championship campaign, Red Bull have confirmed an all-Japanese lineup for the first Bahrain GP free practice session (FP1). This opportunity sees 23-year-old Red Bull junior Iwasa stepping into a Red Bull F1 car for the first time this season, partnering with fellow countryman Yuki Tsunoda, who himself is still getting to grips with the main team's car after receiving a promotion from the junior outfit last weekend.

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Iwasa, a rising star in Super Formula, gets a further taste of F1 machinery this weekend having made an appearance for junior outfit Racing Bulls in front of his home crowd at the Japanese GP FP1 last year.

He also previously dipped his toes into the F1 world during the 2023 young driver test in Abu Dhabi with AlphaTauri (now Racing Bulls).

Now, let's delve into the impressive career of the Japanese star.

Early life

Hailing from a family with a history in motorsport, Iwasa was born on September 22, 2001. Both his parents raced Honda Civics in the 1990s, and racing goes back even further in his family with his grandfather's competitive career.

Iwasa's racing journey began in Japan with karting at the tender age of four. After graduating from Osaka International Senior High School, he moved to competitive racing in 2014. That year, he won the Suzuka Karting Championship in both the Yamaha-SS and X-30 classes. Iwasa also competed in the JAF Junior Karting Championship FP during his junior karting career.

Career

After impressing in karting, the Japanese driver transitioned to single seater racing in 2017, competing in the F4 Japanese Championship and the Asian Formula Renault Series. He raced in his first full season in 2019, claiming the overall title in the Suzuka Racing School's Single Seater Series.

In 2020, he was selected as a Honda Formula Dream Project driver. He once again put on an impressive performance, dominating the French F4 Championship and winning the title by a commanding 81 points. This dominant performance earned him a coveted spot on the Red Bull Junior Team in early 2021.

The next two years were a whirlwind of success for Iwasa. He competed in both the Asian Formula Three and the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2021, securing his first F3 victory in Hungary. His impressive performance at post-season testing with DAMS in Abu Dhabi then landed him a seat with the French team for the 2022 Formula 2 Championship.

In F2, Iwasa continued to shine, claiming a couple of victories and podium finishes, finishing an impressive fifth overall in his debut season. The 2023 campaign saw Iwasa build on that success, adding victories in Saudi Arabia, Monte Carlo, and Australia to his tally. He finished the season a strong fourth in the championship standings.

It was then announced that Iwasa would be joining Japan's premier formula car racing series, the Japanese Super Formula Championship, 2024, with Team Mugen, with whom he continues to race for this season after finishing P5 last term.

Though his sights are firmly set on F1 for the fast-approaching FP1 session, Iwasa's upcoming appearance at the Bahrain GP with Red Bull will be a taste of what's to come for the rising star thanks to a rule change for this year which encourages teams to increase the opportunities they offer for rookie drivers to take part in F1 practice sessions.

Previously, each F1 team was required to field a rookie driver, who had competed in two or fewer F1 sessions, in each of their cars on two mandatory occasions. This year however, the requirement has been upped so that F1 outfits will have to give up each of their seats twice, providing four separate occasions for young stars to compete in a grand prix practice session across the season.

Statements of confidence ahead of Ayumu Iwasa's Red Bull debut

Whilst Iwasa has made appearances with the junior outfit in the past, this weekend marks his debut driving Red Bull's F1 machinery in a grand prix session.

Ahead of the milestone, the Japanese star posted on social media to reveal his excitement over the opportunity.

His post read: "I'll drive for @redbullracing in FP1 of #BahrainGP.

"I'm very looking forward to getting some new experience in the car!"

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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Red Bull Max Verstappen Bahrain Grand Prix RB21 Super Formula Ayumu Iwasa