【2022 Season Review】Rookie Ayumu Iwasa finishes the season in 5th place overall with 2 wins

Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS) participated in the 2022 FIA-F2 Championship, which held 14 races. Iwasa has been based in Europe as part of the Honda Formula Dream Project (HFDP) and won the French F4 championship in 2020. In 2021, despite being a rookie year in the FIA F3 Championship, he won his first victory at the 4th round, the Hungarian GP, and stepped up to the FIA F2 Championship.

The format of the FIA F2 Championship has changed in 2022 season. A sprint race will be held on Saturday with the top 10 in the qualifying standings on a reverse grid, and a feature race that tire changes will be mandatory will be held on Sunday where cars will start in the qualifying standings.

Takes the podium for the first time in the FIA ​​F2

Opening race in Bahrain. Even though he started last in the sprint race, he caught up in the closing stages to finish eighth and scored first points in his first race. Followed up at Round 2 in Saudi Arabia, he finished in 7th in both the sprint and feature races in Saudi Arabia and finished 5th in the feature race at Round 3 in Imola, Italy. Despite his first participation in the race, he showed a good start by steadily adding points in three races in a row, and in the sprint race of the fourth round in Barcelona, ​​he made a good start from 5th place in the 3rd row and improved his position, and he finished in 2nd place by gaining the distance to 3rd place driver. He secured his first podium in the FIA ​​Formula 2 Championship.

He was penalized and had bumps which lead to unwanted result at Round 5 in Monaco, but in round 6, Azerbaijan, he finished 8th in the sprint race and scored points. In Round 7, the British sprint race, he ran fastest laps in a row from the 17th lap to the final lap, but unfortunately it was 0.9 seconds short which resulted him in a second place. It was Iwasa’s first podium since Round 4 in Spain.

1st place of the race in his rookie year

In the 8th round sprint race held in Austria, although he finished in 8th place, he was penalized and eventually finished 10th. Although there were many warnings and penalties in the feature race which was held in the difficult conditions of the wet race, he finished 7th and earned 6 points.

Placing 13th place overall so far, in the 9th round of the sprint race in France, although it was a difficult course to overtake, Iwasa made good use of his tire management from the 9th position and moved up in the final stages to finish in 8th position. After the race, a time penalty was imposed on the machines, including those in the top ranks, and he moved up to 6th place. In the feature race starting from the front row with 2nd position, after taking the lead on the first lap, the safety car was introduced on the second lap due to an accident which happened drivers behind him. After that, Iwasa made a perfect decision to restart the race and built a one second lead over 2nd place driver. Even in last part of the race, he continued to pull away from the 2nd place driver lap after lap. In the end, he was more than 8 seconds faster than 2nd place driver, and he won his first victory in the FIA ​​F2 Championship in his rookie year.

In the 10th round of the Hungarian feature race, he finished on the podium in 3rd place for the second time in a row. At the end of the 10th round, he has total of 90 series points. He climbed to 7th place in the series ranking.

Finished 5th overall in his first year of FIA F2

In the 11th round in Belgium, although he was not able to score any points on the first day, he managed to catch up in the final stages of the feature race and finished 8th. In the 12th round of the Dutch Feature Race, he fought determinedly until the end and finished in 3rd place despite the turmoil of the race, with the safety car being called out three times and the red flag being interrupted. It was his fifth podium of the season.

With the remaining two rounds, Iwasa has earned a total of 114 points, placing him 6th in the series ranking. However, in the 13th round held in Monza, Italy, the pace of the machine did not improve and the first day was in 16th place. The next day, he finished in 3rd place, but he was disqualified after a violation was pointed out on the floor of his machine.

Then came the final race in Abu Dhabi. Although he finished 13th in the sprint race with no points, he started the feature race from pole position. He held the lead from the end of the first lap, and on the 31st and final laps of Turns 8 and 9, he fought a fierce side-by-side battle with Felipe Dolgovic, who had secured the championship in Round 13. He kept his position until the end and received the checkered flag at the top. Iwasa, who finished the final race in the form of victory, has a total of 141 points in the series. He finished the series ranking in 5th place for his Rookie year in the season of 2022.

Race Report

Rd.01 Bahrain(Sprint)：After Starting from the Back Ayumu Iwasa Finishes 8th He gains a point in his maiden F2 race

Rd.01 Bahrain(Feature)：Ayumu Iwasa has to settle for a 16th place finish due to a problem on the final lap

Rd.02 Saudi Arabia(Sprint)：Ayumu Iwasa has to settle for a 16th place finish due to a problem on the final lap

Rd.02 Saudi Arabia(Feature)：Ayumu Iwasa finishes in a point-scoring 7th place in the Feature Race and rises to 10th in the championship with consecutive points

Rd.03 Italy(Sprint)：Ayumu Iwasa finishes 9th in the Sprint Race

Rd.03 Italy(Feature)：Ayumu Iwasa claims 5th place in a dramatic race and gains 10 points, taking him to 9th in the championship

Rd.04 Spain(Sprint)：Ayumu Iwasa claims 2nd place after a good start to gain his first podium finish of the season

Rd.04 Spain(Feature)：Starting from 6th Ayumu Iwasa has an accident early in the race and finishes 12th after coming up from last place

Rd.05 Monaco(Sprint)：Ayumu Iwasa starts from 19th position on the grid after being penalised in Qualifying and finishes 19th in the Sprit Race

Rd.05 Monaco(Feature)：Starting from 12th Ayumu Iwasa moves up to a point-scoring position. He puts up a great fight but stops after a collision on the final lap

Rd.06 Azerbaijan(Sprint)：Ayumu Iwasa starts from 13th and finishes 8th to gain a point

Rd.06 Azerbaijan(Feature)：In a rough race with three Safety Car interventions. Iwasa starts in 13th, has an accident and finishes 14th

Rd.07 British(Sprint)：Despite a late-race charge, Ayumu Iwasa falls a little short and comes in 2nd He gains his first best lap and second podium finish in F2

Rd.07 British(Feature)：Despite a good performance in running 4th early on a time loss at a pit stop costs Iwasa and he finishes 12th in the Feature Race

Rd.08 Austria(Sprint)：Starting from 6th, Ayumu Iwasa finishes the race in 8th but a post-race penalty relegates him to 10th

Rd.08 Austria(Feature)：In difficult conditions and after a number of penalties causing a disturbance. Iwasa starts the race 4th and finishes 7th to secure points

Rd.09 France(Sprint)：Ayumu Iwasa finishes the race in 8th after starting in 9th. Multiple penalties after the race then promote him to 6th overall

Rd.09 France(Feature)：Iwasa runs a perfect race to clinch his maiden win in F2, taking him to 9th in the championship

Rd.10 Hungary(Sprint)：Top qualifier Ayumu Iwasa starts from P10 on the reverse grid. After a stable drive he finishes in a point-scoring 8th place

Rd.10 Hungary(Feature)：Ayumu Iwasa starts from pole position, loses out at the start and finishes 3rd. After back-to-back podiums he moves up to 7th in the championship

Rd.11 Belgium(Sprint)：Iwasa starts the race in 13th and finishes 9th. Narrowly missing out on winning points

Rd.11 Belgium(Feature)：Starting from 13th, Ayumu Iwasa moves up late in the race to finish 8th. Gains 4 points to remain 7th in the championship

Rd.12 Netherlands(Sprint)：Iwasa starts the race in 6th and regains the same position on the final lap to finish the race

Rd.12 Netherlands(Feature)：Starting from 5th, Ayumu Iwasa finishes on the podium in 3rd after a stormy race with a red flag and three SC interventions

Rd.13 Italy(Sprint)：Starting from 4th, Ayumu Iwasa struggles with the balance of his car and finishes 16th after failing to pick up the pace

Rd.13 Italy(Feature)：Ayumu Iwasa finishes a stormy race in 3rd, only to face a regrettable disqualification after post-race scrutineering

Rd.14 Abu Dhabi(Sprint)：Top qualifier Ayumu Iwasa starts from P10 on the reverse grid but finishes 13th after struggling with the balance of the car

Rd.14 Abu Dhabi(Feature)：Ayumu Iwasa finishes on a high with a pole-to-win in the final round