Bunga Bangsa, Rio Haryanto – Indonesia’s First F1 Driver!

OKAY LISTEN UP, let’s talk about Rio Hariyanto aka Indonesia’s first-ever F1 driver!! Aku masih gak percaya sih, we actually had an Indonesian racing in FREAKING FORMULA 1. Like, do you even realize how insane that is?? Let’s roll back a bit and talk about how he got there, karena of cooouuurse perjalanan dia ke F1 itu bukan kaya pasang cheat di game dan tiba-tiba jadi pro. IT. WAS. TOUGH. So, let’s dive into this legendary story!

Kaya kebanyakan pembalap, Rio juga start dari gokart waktu kecil. Dari kecil udah keliatan kalau dia tuh jago banget, and by the time he was a teenager, dia udah balapan di ajang internasional!!! like... anak Solo tapi mainnya  di circuit international???? thats crazy stuff. 

🏎️ Formula BMW Pacific – Debut single-seaters, langsung menang 6 race! King behavior.

🏎️ GP3 Series – Semakin dikenal, skill makin mateng.

🏎️ GP2 Series – The FINAL STEP before F1. Kalo bisa sukses di sini, F1 tinggal selangkah lagi.

And guess what? Rio PROVED that he deserved a seat in F1. Tapi… F1 itu bukan cuma soal skill. It’s also about MONEY. A LOT OF MONEY. 

 2016, akhirnya ada tim F1 yang tertarik: Manor Racing. Tapi, masuk F1 itu mahal banget guys.... kaya, bukan cuma ratusan juta, tapi jutaan dollar. And Rio harus bayar 15 juta euro atau sekitar 240 miliar rupiah buat seat di Manor. WHAT?! and Manor Racing wasnt even a top notch teaaam tapi udah segitu gede biayanya :/

Tapi, karena ini adalah momen bersejarah buat Indonesia, semua orang gerak cepet. Pertamina turun tangan, pemerintah kasih support, fans Indonesia rame-rame kasih semangat (walau gak bisa patungan LOL).

And akhirnya, setelah drama panjang… RIO HARYANTO IS OFFICIALLY AN F1 DRIVER!!!!!

Rio ikut 12 race, and even though Manor literally tim paling belakang, dia tetep fight like a WARRIOR.

🔥 Australia GP – Debut pertama!! Sayang banget DNF (Did Not Finish), tapi we were so proud!!!

🔥 Monaco GP – Sirkuit tersulit di dunia, tapi Rio bisa survive!

🔥 Silverstone GP – Hujan deras, kondisi chaos, tapi Rio masih bisa ngasih perlawanan.

TAPI… tragedi datang. Setelah Hungary GP, funding dari sponsor gak cukup buat lanjut. Rio harus keluar dari Manor. That was literally devastating, Indonesia lost its first F1 driver. But one thing for sure is that he already made history!

Jujur, Rio tuh bukti kalau anak Indonesia bisa bersaing di motorsport internasional. Maybe, someday, bakal ada pembalap Indonesia lain yang masuk F1. BUT REMEMBER, yang pertama? Yang buka jalan? That will always be Rio Haryanto.