Simulators, baseball and even more racing: Getting to know the real Ayumu Iwasa

6 October 2022

Ayumu Iwasa would be the first to admit he eats, sleeps and breathes racing. When the DAMS driver isn’t racing in Formula 2, you’ll find him at home watching races or behind the wheel of his sim. The Japanese rookie’s love for racing was written in the stars before he was even born – literally!

We caught up with the Red Bull junior to find out exactly how much he’s thinking about four wheels, his sweet tooth and why he’s learnt to be careful where he parks now.

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?

“I was born in Osaka in Japan, it’s quite a big city with some famous places. Tokyo’s still the biggest city and it’s a bit far from there.

“That’s where I started karting with my family when I was four years old. My parents were amateur racing drivers, and my mum drove in touring cars. Then my first race there was when I was five years old, and I won that race!”

OUTSIDE OF MOTORSPORT, WHICH SPORTSPERSON DO YOU ADMIRE?

“Shohei Ohtani in American baseball and Kei Nishikori in tennis. I think there are a lot of famous athletes in Japan!”

HOW DO YOU RELAX AWAY FROM THE TRACK?

“That’s difficult because basically my life is almost always in the simulator. Back in my flat in Milton Keynes in the UK, I drive on my simulator a lot. That’s my little way to relax and also, it’s my preparation for the next races, so it’s almost perfect. Sometimes, I’m also watching drifting events or other racing series.”

WHAT IS TOP OF YOUR BUCKET LIST?

“That’s a really difficult question...I want a car!”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHEAT MEAL?

“Nothing! I shouldn’t have too much sugar or salt, but I don’t have any limits on the food I eat normally. On a race weekend, I don’t eat sweets, just salad, pasta and meat.”

YOUR FAVOURITE RACING MEMORY?

“In 2019 when I was racing in Super FJ in Japan, which is just below the F4 category. It was my last race in Japan, and it was also the biggest race of the season. I was running in P1 until the last lap, as I was a bit slower than the driver in second. He kept getting closer and closer and finally, I was overtaken by him going into the last four corners.

“There was the final big straight and I tried to overtake him on the back straight, but there was a yellow flag there so I couldn’t, but I didn’t give up. I tried to go on the outside of the braking zone, and he defended it, but it wasn’t enough. I tried to dive into the corner so I could overtake him around the last chicane in the final corner and I won the race! It was such an amazing moment for me, I’ve never had a race like that in my career.”

WHO ARE YOU FRIENDS WITH ON THE GRID?

“Sometimes I speak with Marino Sato as he’s another Japanese F2 driver like me and Jüri Vips. Also, Liam Lawson and the other Red Bull juniors.”

IF YOU COULD GO BACK TO ANY MOMENT IN HISTORY, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

“When I was 12/13 and I started to drive proper karts, not just regular go-karts. It was a very fun moment because at that point I really wanted to drive a formula car. Also, I started trying to do drifting as well, so it was a really good time – without going racing, I was just driving along.”

IF YOU WEREN’T A DRIVER, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

“I think I would still do some stuff with racing. When I drive the simulator in my flat, I try to manage that car’s setup and I think it’s quite interesting. I think I would go into engineering; I want to learn more about it – or be a simulator driver.

“To be honest, I wasn’t very good at sciences at school, but I was a bit better at computer science – won't say I was so good though!”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MOVIE OR TV SERIES?

“Fast and Furious and I used to watch a lot of Harry Potter before. I don’t have any favourite TV shows because I don’t watch TV so much, mainly movies and YouTube. On YouTube, I watch quite a lot of drifting events and other racing series. Sometimes, I’ll watch really, really old racing stuff and my old karting videos.”

WHAT WAS THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO?

“I listened to a lot this morning because I had a 30-minute drive from the hotel to here, so I think it was a song from Fast and Furious. I have a playlist of songs that I played when driving from the hotel to the track called ‘Good Life’.

WHAT IS YOUR DREAM BIRTHDAY CAKE?

“I love chocolate cake, maybe with some chocolate cookies and strawberries. There’s even a chocolate car model that’s quite good – for design though, not for the taste, just looks.”

IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD YOU VISIT?

“My sim cockpit! Or I would go to drive my F2 car in Monaco.”

YOUR MOST EMBARASSING MOMENT?

“When I was at the Circuit Paul Ricard in French F4 two years ago, it was almost then end of the season and I got pole in Qualifying and started P1 on the grid. Then, we had the one formation lap and when I came back to the grid, I stopped the car in like the P11 or P13 positions because the circuit has two bridges across the grid on the main straight.

“Also, there is a lights signal on the second bridge as well, so I thought it was the P1 position and I stopped the car. Then the car starting in P2 came up next to me and said, ‘go forward, go in front’. I didn’t understand and when I saw the grid number in front of me, it was like P11. It was quite a bad situation, but quite funny for me as well because even though I was P1, I managed to stop really far away!”