[Analysis] How Ayumu Iwasa's golden chance to win at Autopolis unravelled
A look at how Red Bull Formula 1 hopeful Iwasa's chance to win in only his second Super Formula appearance slipped through his fingers...
Photo: JRP
‘Kuyashii’, or ‘frustrating’, is a word that Ayumu Iwasa used many times to describe the result of last weekend’s second round of the Super Formula season at Autopolis. When you consider that he started from pole and ended up a distant second behind first-time series winner Tadasuke Makino, it shouldn’t be a surprise.
Iwasa, after all, is a driver who is trying to get on Red Bull’s radar for a Formula 1 seat - a task not made any easier by the fact that his Team Mugen predecessor Liam Lawson is still waiting for his chance for a full-time F1 drive. Lawson made his case with a famous win on his Super Formula debut. Iwasa came nowhere near replicating that at Suzuka, but he went some way to making amends at Autopolis as he took pole by 0.338s ahead of Makino, the largest pole margin since last year’s Fuji opener.
The path was clear for Iwasa to dominate the race just as convincingly, but instead he could only watch on helplessly as Makino claimed an emotional maiden win.