Hirakawa recently took part in firts free practice at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, where he filled in for Alpine’s Jack Doohan and drove alongside Pierre Gasly. That was his first time driving in Formula 1 this year, but also his last appearance with Alpine, as he has now moved to Haas.

Until now, Haas did not have a full-time reserve driver for 2025. In the past, they relied on Ferrari to provide backup drivers when needed. For example, in 2024, Ollie Bearman, who was part of the Ferrari driver academy at the time, stepped in twice to replace Kevin Magnussen.

Hirakawa is backed by Toyota and is best known for racing in endurance events, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he won in 2022 with his teammates Brendon Hartley and Sebastien Buemi, both former F1 drivers. He also won the World Endurance Championship (WEC) titles in 2022 and 2023.

Even though he has lots of racing experience, he has never taken part in a Formula 1 race. Because of that, he is still eligible for the mandatory rookie Free Practice 1 sessions.

Formula 1 now requires each team to give rookies four FP1 sessions per season, two per car. Haas has confirmed that Hirakawa will take part in all four of their rookie sessions this year. He will begin in Bahrain this weekend, replacing Bearman. He will also drive his in Mexico City, and later in the season, he will take over Esteban Ocon’s car for the practice sessions in Spain and Abu Dhabi.

Hirakawa has already driven for Haas before, he tested with them at the end of 2024 in Abu Dhabi and he has also done a practice session with McLaren in the past. His move to Haas is also part of a growing partnership between Haas and Toyota, which could lead to more cooperation between the two in the future.