Does this Red Bull junior make a claim for De Vries or Tsunoda's seat?

Ayumu Iwasa is the big surprise after the first three Grands Prix in Formula 2. The Red Bull-trained driver leads the championship after his win in Australia, with the Japanese driver someone that not many people had taken into account beforehand.

Surprising name from the Red Bull Junior Team

Theo Pourchaire, Dennis Hauger, Jack Doohan and Isack Hadjar were the names labelled as the big favourites prior to the Formula 2 season. After three out of 14 race weekends, however, it is Iwasa who surprised everyone on the grid. The 21-year-old DAMS driver has been especially consistent and crowned a superb all-round performance in Melbourne with pole and victory in the main race.

Although at 21, Iwasa is no longer the youngest trainee on the Red Bull Junior Team, making the biggest impression currently. Like his compatriot Yuki Tsunoda, Iwasa has only just arrived in Europe. Only in 2020 did he make the switch to the West, where he immediately won the French F4 championship, finishing ahead of Isack Hadjar. It earned Iwasa an immediate appointment into Red Bull's training programme in early 2021.

Since then, Iwasa's career has been swift. In 2021, he was sent straight to the European Formula 3 championship, where he managed to win one race on behalf of Hitech, finishing 12th in the championship. No title, but Helmut Marko decided to send Iwasa straight into F2. In a competitive field of drivers, Iwasa finished fifth in the championship as a rookie, with two wins behind his name.

Candidate for AlphaTauri in 2024?

Iwasa impressed, especially at the end of 2022, with two poles in Hungary and Abu Dhabi, along with victories in the main races in France and Abu Dhabi. He climbed steadily in the championship, eventually finishing fifth, just behind Logan Sargeant. Since the American already drove a few F2 races in 2021, Iwasa was the best rookie.

Still, the Japanese driver was not considered the favourite at the start of 2023. With Hadjar, Hauger, Zane Maloney, Enzo Fittipaldi, and Jak Crawford, Red Bull had more talents looking to capture the F2 title. However, it is Iwasa who has performed. In Bahrain, in particular, he showed consistency with a fourth and eighth place. In Saudi Arabia, he won the sprint race and finished the main race in P4. In qualifying in Australia, he really impressed by taking pole in the rain. The sprint race did go wrong for Iwasa, but he was able to win the main race at Albert Park.

The differences are still small in the championship standings. Iwasa is on 58 points, eight more than the top favourite Pourchaire. However, where Iwasa is performing consistently, the Frenchman is very much up and down. Frederik Vesti is the closest rival with 42 points, with the first Red Bull junior only following on in P7. Dennis Hauger occupies that spot with 30 points.

The stakes are high for Iwasa, because if he continues with these performances, an F1 seat is in the offing. Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries both one-year deals at AlphaTauri, and if Iwasa does indeed manage to win the F2 title, there is a good chance Marko will offer him a step up.