Ayumu Iwasa gets Red Bull FP1 chance in Spain

Ayumu Iwasa will drive Isack Hadjar’s RB22 in Free Practice 1 at the Spanish Grand Prix, with Red Bull using the Barcelona session to meet one of its mandated rookie-driver runs under the 2026 Formula 1 regulations.

The swap puts Iwasa in the car for Friday’s opening hour at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and gives him his first official-session outing in Red Bull Racing’s current Formula 1 machine. Red Bull said the session is part of the rookie allocation required this season.

It also comes at a track the team views as especially important to getting a weekend started properly. Red Bull noted that 32 of the previous 35 Spanish Grand Prix winners started from the front row, a reminder that qualifying position tends to shape the race in Barcelona and that early setup work carries extra weight.

That leaves Hadjar with one less hour of running on a circuit that is often treated as one of the clearest performance tests on the calendar. Barcelona’s mix of high-, medium- and low-speed corners, along with its long straight, gives teams a broad read on car balance, pace and setup direction after the very different demands of Monaco.

For Iwasa, the session is both an opportunity and an adjustment. Ayumu Iwasa said in team comments that his last time in a Formula 1 car came in Abu Dhabi last year, so Barcelona will be “a new experience” with the current car and regulations. He added: “I’ve spent a lot of time in the simulator preparing, so I’m looking forward to getting out on track, learning as much as possible and helping the team during the session.”

Red Bull said Iwasa has already supported its development work through simulator running and testing, and he arrives with previous FP1 experience from outings with Racing Bulls. This weekend, though, gives him his first official chance to feed back on Red Bull’s current package at a circuit teams use to judge whether their car is working across the full range of corners that matter later in the season.