Red Bull talent chases F2 title with DAMS in 2023

Iwasa is a 21-year-old driver and part of the Red Bull programme since 2021. Iwasa already won the French F4 championship in 2020 and made the jump to the European Formula 3 championship from there. There, Iwasa won one race on behalf of Hitech and finished 12th in the championship. Last year, he made the switch to Formula 2 where he won two races on behalf of DAMS and finished fifth in the championship.

Iwasa stays at DAMS

Iwasa wants to continue that line in 2023 and has therefore decided to remain part of the French team. ''I’m really happy with my first F2 season, I learned a lot during the year, and we were able to improve at each race. It’s a great feeling to continue with DAMS for another year, I feel at home in the team, and we work well together. Everyone was on the same page and that helped us secure plenty of strong results. It’s going to be helpful to come into the new campaign in a familiar environment, along with my experience of several tracks that were new to me in 2022.''

''My target is to challenge for the F2 title in 2023. We know we have the potential to achieve it, but we’re not looking too far ahead yet, instead concentrating on being ready for the start of the season. Thanks to DAMS for their faith and support and I can’t wait to get started in 2023!''

Chasing F2 title

Team owner Charles Pic is also happy about retaining Iwasa: ''We were all impressed with Ayumu’s performances in 2022, especially with the victories at Paul Ricard and Yas Marina, so we were very keen to keep him for 2023. It’s great for us to continue our relationships with Red Bull and Honda, they trust in our methods, and we’ll do our best to succeed together.''

''Ayumu proved that he has the potential to fight for the title, he was a major competitor in the second half of the season, and we hope he can use this experience to kick on in 2023. We’ve got a strong lineup with Ayumu and Arthur, so we’re hoping they can push each other to improve throughout the year.''

With Iwasa, DAMS has completed its line-up for 2023. The French team earlier presented Arthur Leclerc. Charles' younger brother is part of the Ferrari Junior Academy and finished sixth in the 2022 Formula 3 championship on behalf of Prema.