AlphaTauri choose F2 star Ayumu Iwasa for end of season test alongside Ricciardo and Tsunoda

Red Bull junior and Honda-backed driver Ayumu Iwasa will get his first taste of Formula 1 machinery when he completes testing duties for AlphaTauri in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

The Japanese racer is currently third in the F2 championship, having scored three wins, with one round to go this weekend.

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He’s 39 points adrift of championship leader Theo Pourchaire, and must take wins in both the Sprint and Feature races, plus pole and both fastest laps – with his French rival not scoring – to take the title.

The 22-year-old will get a full day of running at Yas Island in this year’s AlphaTauri AT04 on Tuesday.

The Italian team will run a second car, which will be focused on Pirelli tyre testing, with Daniel Ricciardo driving in the morning and Yuki Tsunoda taking over in the afternoon.

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Iwasa will head back to Japan to make his debut in the prestigious Super Formula single-seater series in 2024.

It will be his first season racing on home soil since 2019, having raced in Europe since 2020 – the Japanese driver winning the French F4 title that year, finishing 12th in F3 in 2021 and fifth in F2 in 2022.