Haas makes the call before final practice
Esteban Ocon is out in Mexico. Haas announced on Saturday, just ahead of the third free practice session, that reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa takes the second car for the rest of the Grand Prix weekend.
The Frenchman will not take part in qualifying or in Sunday’s race. The team gave no reason in its announcement, and none had been offered at the time of writing, so the cause of the switch is still a blank. Mid-weekend driver changes often come with a medical or sporting explanation. This one arrived without either.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
A first Grand Prix for Hirakawa
For the Japanese driver, Sunday brings the first Grand Prix start of his Formula 1 career. Hirakawa drove first practice for Haas on Friday, so the car is not entirely new to him, but he has only what is left of Saturday to prepare for a full race distance at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
It is a steep ask. Mexico City sits high above sea level, and the thin air makes cars harder to cool and brakes harder to manage over a race.
Haas was already in the headlines on Friday. According to Sky Sports, team boss Ayao Komatsu rejected reports that Oliver Bearman’s contract talks were stuck on a salary demand of around £5m a year.
Discover the rest of our F1 news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply