Hirakawa promoted to debut points by Piastri, Alpine penalties

Ryo Hirakawa has earned a point on his Formula 1 debut for Haas following penalties for Oscar Piastri and both Alpine drivers after the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The Japanese driver made his debut at age 32 after being called upon to replace Esteban Ocon in the wake of Haas’ decision to sideline the Frenchman on Friday night. Team principal Ayao Komatsu called that “a professional team's decision” pre-race, and said the team would look to focus on all of the details for Hirakawa to execute the cleanest possible run on Sunday.

Hirakawa originally crossed the line in 13th place after a competitive performance, but then was promoted three positions by post-race penalties.

The first was handed out to Piastri, who received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Arvid Lindblad. The contact at Turn 1 took Lindblad out of the race late on and triggered a Safety Car restart, leading to a bunched-up field that helped Hirakawa cross the line within seven seconds of the seventh-placed McLaren.

“On the approach to Turn 1, the driver of Car 81 attempted an overtake on the outside of Car 41. Car 81 was never fully alongside Car 41 so was not able to claim the right to the corner,” the stewards’ decision read. “Through Turn 1, the driver of Car 41 defended his position by releasing the brakes however does not force Car 81 off the track, allowing racing room on the outside – which he is not required to do.”

Following the Piastri penalty, both Alpine drivers were then hit with separate penalties for failing to slow for yellow flags in the latter stages of the race. Franco Colapinto – who originally finished 0.7s behind Piastri in eighth place – was given a 10-second time penalty, while Pierre Gasly – who had finished 10th – was hit with a post-race stop and go penalty, converted into an addition of 30 seconds to his race time.

The penalties promote Liam Lawson into seventh place after starting from the pit lane, while Gabriel Bortoleto moves up to eighth, Isack Hadjar is classified ninth and Hirakawa picks up the final point in 10th.

Despite Hirakawa’s debut point, Bortoleto’s score of four points sees Audi close the gap on Haas in the constructors’ championship, with just four points now between the teams in the battle for seventh overall.