Hirakawa explains Alpine exit, responds to limited opportunity claims after Colapinto signing

Ryo Hirakawa has moved to the Haas Formula 1 team as a reserve driver with immediate effect. Despite taking Alpine driver Jack Doohan’s spot in the first practice session in Japan as part of the rookie testing programme, the Japanese driver announced he was moving teams. He has now opened up on why he made this seemingly abrupt decision.

While speaking to Motorsport.com and other media, Hirakawa was asked if part of the decision to move from Alpine was the number of reserve drivers the French team is contracted with, with the most recent signing being Franco Colapinto, meaning there could be “limited opportunity” to get a full-time spot in the team. He responded:

“Yeah, I can’t deny it, but it’s difficult to answer, but I think that’s how you guessed [it], so yeah.”

Hirakawa also shared his excitement for the role with Haas and confirmed the “majority of the decision” was his.

“I’m happy to be with Haas. I’m seeing the results are going up, so I’m excited to join.”

The 31-year-old shot down claims that he might be too old to enter F1, stating that it’s still a goal of his but he is “just focusing on my job.”

“I think it’s gonna be a matter of how much I can do it. It’s easy to say I’m too old, but who knows [if] I can do good or not, so I do my best. I did a good job last week, so I keep doing it, and just focusing on my job.”

Hirakawa will step in for Oliver Bearman in the Haas VF-25 in free practice 1 tomorrow at the Bahrain International Circuit. Looking ahead to his FP1 outing, Hirakawa noted the extreme heat as a potential challenge. He explained:

“I think it’s quite a different track from Suzuka and it’s a different type of corner and different type of circuit.

“This extreme hot temperature, I think it’s gonna be quite different. I think I need to adapt to the car and the track as quickly as possible. Looking forward to it anyway.”

Photos from Bahrain – Thursday