Hirakawa says late Haas Mexico debut was a ‘dream come true’

Ryo Hirakawa reflected on his late call-up to Haas for the Mexico City Grand Prix, calling the opportunity to make his Formula 1 debut a “dream come true.” The Japanese driver stepped in for Haas in Mexico after Esteban Ocon was stood down from his driving duties.

After qualifying, Hirakawa said traffic on his final lap prevented him from improving further. He believed he could have “easily” reached Q2 without that interruption.

Motorsport.com also reported that Hirakawa had set a personal-best first sector on that run and was pushing to move up the order. Across the coverage, the central theme was his late opportunity with Haas and his view that qualifying could have yielded more.