McLaren name 24 Hours of Le Mans winner as new F1 reserve driver
Hirakawa won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2022 alongside Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley.
Next year he will combine duties for McLaren with his current role with Toyota, for whom he leads the Hyperclass class in the World Endurance Championship currently.
Hirakawa will conduct simulator and testing duties with the 2021 MCL35M as part of McLaren’s driver development programme.
He also drove in the Japan-based Super Formula series.
INDYCAR options fell through
Alex Palou, the two-time INDYCAR champion, recently saw a deal to join McLaren fall apart.
So he can no longer be relied upon to act as an F1 reserve driver in 2024.
Pato O'Ward could instead be added to McLaren’s options if he receives a superlicence.
They also have access to Mick Schumacher, who is Mercedes’ third driver.
McLaren also struck a deal with Aston Martin to share Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Drugovich as reserve drivers for the first 15 rounds of this year so could revisit a similar arrangement in 2024.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
