Suzuka, Mie Pref. ¨C Ayumu Iwasa was all smiles Friday after putting in his first couple dozen laps in a Formula One car at Suzuka Circuit during the first free practice session of the Japanese Grand Prix.
¡°That was so fun,¡± Iwasa told reporters. ¡°I was able to have a good feeling from the car straight away so I was able to build up the pace quite quickly and I think I could do quite good progress with the team through the session.¡±
The Osaka Prefecture native logged a fastest lap of 1:32.103 for RB, putting him 16th among the 20 drivers in the session. That was about nine-tenths of a second behind the best of teammate Yuki Tsunoda in a rare instance of two Japanese drivers participating in the same F1 session.
Iwasa, who also drove an F1 car during postseason testing last year after finishing fourth in Formula 2, is now in his first season in Super Formula, the top open-wheel series in Japan. He finished ninth in his debut race, at Suzuka Circuit on March 10.
¡°I¡¯ve driven a lot of laps with other cars (at Suzuka) but it was a different feeling with an F1 car,¡± he said.
Compared to Super Formula, ¡°it¡¯s just amazing,¡± he said. ¡°The car has much more capacity to push and also the limit is much higher. But actually ... the high-speed section, it was not so far from Super Formula so that¡¯s why I was also able to build up the pace quite quickly.¡±
With that first taste of an F1 weekend under his belt, Iwasa was clear that he doesn¡¯t want this to be the extent of his journey at the pinnacle of motorsport.
¡°(My target) is clearly to be in F1 as a regular driver and also to be world champion,¡± he said. ¡°For sure, it¡¯s not easy, but my target is clearly for that.¡±
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