Who is Ryo Hirakawa ahead of Haas reserve’s Bahrain practice outing? Age, nationality, stats and more

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Ryo Hirakawa is a Japanese racing driver who has switched to Haas for the 2025 season, so here is everything you need to know about their reserve driver.

Taking the traditional route of starting off in karting at the age of thirteen, he raced in various local championships including the All-Japan Kart Championship which he won in 2008 before progressing to the KF2 catagory in 2009.

Hirakawa made the switch to single-seaters in 2010 following his graduation from the Formula Toyota Racing School, competing in the Formula Challenge series in Japan. He finished sixth in the series standings, before going on to win his first race in the Super FJ catagory.

The Japanese driver would later win his first title at just 16 years old in Japan, and would later follow it up by winning the JAF Formula 4 title at 17 years old.

Ryo Hirakawa joins Toyota Young Driver Programme

Hirakawa joined the Toyota Young Driver Program in 2013 and made his Super Formula debut. At just 19 years old he was the youngest driver in the championship, finishing his debut season 11th in the standings.

He scored his first podium in Super Formula in 2014 at the Fuji Speedway, although he would have won the race had he not gone off track on the final lap. Hirakawa finished eighth in the championship for two consecutive years between 2014 and 2015, going on to race in Super GT.

After substituting for Kazuki Nakajima for a couple of rounds, he made his full-time debut in 2015 and won his first race in just three starts. Hirakawa finished fifth in the championship, although dropped to ninth the following year.

Things would improve in 2017 when he partnered Nick Cassidy, winning the opening round at Okayama and again in Thailand, before winning the GT500 championship in Motegi. At 23 years old, Hirakawa became the youngest Japanese-born GT500 champion in history.

He would finish second in the drivers’ championship in 2018 and 2019, although his consistent results enabled his team to take the teams’ championship by one point in 2019.

Ryo Hirakawa wins Le Mans with Toyota

Hirakawa had made his LMP2 class debut in 2016 with TDS Racing, winning his first race alongside Pierre Thiriet and Mathias Beche at Imola.

He then won the race at the Red Bull Ring before making his 24 hours of Le Mans debut in 2016, where the team was in contention for a podium in class before an accident early in the morning on the Sunday put them out of the race.

In 2017 he won the ELMS Drivers’ Championship with G-Drive racing, and eventually made the switch to Toyota as their hypercar driver in 2022. Partnering Sebastian Buemi and Brendon Hartley, he replaced Nakajima who took on a managerial role at the team.

The trio won the 1000 miles of Sebring and then went on to win the 24 hours of Le Mans outright, with Hirakawa becoming only the sixth Japanese driver in history to achieve the feat. They went on to subsequently win the hypercar class both in 2022 and 2023, before finishing fourth in 2024.

Ryo Hirakawa’s first taste of F1 machinery

Having been successful in sportscars and in Japanese racing categories, it first caught the eye of McLaren who signed Hirakawa up to their Driver Development Programme in 2023.

He tested F1 machinery for the first time at Barcelona, driving the team’s 2021 MCL35M around the Spanish Grand Prix track. He would go on to make his F1 weekend debut in FP1 for the Abu Dhabi GP in 2024.

Hirakawa initially joined Alpine as their reserve driver for the 2025 season, competing in FP1 with the team in place of Jack Doohan at the Japanese GP in Suzuka. Due to his ties with Toyota, Hirakawa switched to Haas as a reserve driver and will participate in FP1 with them for the first time in Bahrain.

How old is Ryo Hirakawa? When was the Haas reserve driver born?

At the time of writing, Ryo Hirakawa is 31 years old. He was born in Kure, Hiroshima, Japan.

Does Ryo Hirakawa have an FIA Super Licence?

As of the 2025 season, Ryo Hirakawa is eligible for an F1 super licence due to his victories in Le Mans and Super GT.

Ryo Hirakawa’s career stats

2010 – Formula Challenge Japan: 11 races, 0 wins, 0 poles

2011 – Formula Challenge Japan: 13 races, 1 win, 1 pole

2012 – Japanese F3: 15 races, 7 wins, 7 poles

2013 – Super Formula: 7 races, 0 wins, 0 poles

2014 – Super Formula: 9 races, 0 wins, 0 poles

2015 – Super Formula: 8 races, 0 wins, 0 poles

2016 – ELMS: 5 races, 2 wins, 1 pole

2016 – Super GT: 8 races, 0 wins, 1 pole

2017 – ELMS: 4 races, 2 wins, 0 poles

2018 – Super GT: 8 races, 1 win, 0 poles

2018 – Super Formula: 6 races, 0 wins, 1 pole

2019 – Super Formula: 7 races, 1 win, 1 pole

2020 – Super Formula: 7 races, 1 win, 2 poles

2021 – Super Formula: 6 races, 0 wins, 0 poles

2022 – FIA WEC: 6 races, 3 wins, 3 poles

2023 – FIA WEC: 7 races, 2 wins, 2 poles

2023 – Super Formula: 9 races, 0 wins, 0 poles

2024 – FIA WEC: 8 races, 2 wins, 1 pole