2025 Super Formula Championship

Team changes

• The entry co-run by Inging Motorsport and Cerumo added another title sponsor alongside Vertex Partners, with Industrial manufacturer Sanki Shokai joining the series and the team competing under the name Sanki Vertex Partners Cerumo・Inging.
• TGM Grand Prix underwent substantial changes within its organization. The team ended its engine contract with Honda and instead became part of Toyota Gazoo Racing, joining Rookie Racing in serving as a Toyota junior team and receiving Toyota engines. The team, co-run by TGM and TOM'S, acquired a new title sponsor in telecommunications operator KDDI and entered the 2025 season under the name KDDI TGMGP TGR-DC.
• A new team entered the championship in Triple Tree Racing, established by Hideki Noda, former Formula One and father of Juju Noda. It used Honda engines and was operated by motorsport management company 4Minutes. Construction company Hazama Ando was confirmed to be the entry's title sponsor, with the team running under the name Hazama Ando Triple Tree Racing.
• Red Bull ended their partnership with Team Mugen after seven years of cooperation.
• Team Impul added another title sponsor in Itochu's subsidiary company, used car dealer Wecars, with the team competing under the name Itochu Enex Wecars Team Impul.

Driver changes

• Nakajima Racing saw three-time series champion Naoki Yamamoto retire from the series after 15 seasons. The team promoted their reserve driver Igor Fraga, who spent 2024 competing in Super GT's GT300 class with Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage, to its Super Formula outfit.
• Team Impul had an all-new line up as 2016 series champion Yuji Kunimoto retired from the series after 14 seasons and neither of the four drivers who drove the No. 19 car in 2024 returned. The team signed Oliver Rasmussen, who came 19th in the WEC's Hypercar class with Jota Sport in 2024 and made his series debut, and NISMO works driver Mitsunori Takaboshi, who made his full-season debut after a one-off Super Formula appearance for Team Impul in 2021.
• B-Max Racing Team saw Iori Kimura leave the team after Honda ended its association with him. He joined Team Mach in the Super GT GT300 class, while B-Max promoted reigning Super Formula Lights champion Syun Koide from its outfit in that championship to replace him.
• TOM'S saw Ukyo Sasahara leave the series after five years and three full-time seasons to focus on his Super GT GT500 efforts with TGR Team Deloitte TOM'S. 2022 Super Formula runner-up Sacha Fenestraz returned to the series after a two-year stint in Formula E with Nissan to replace him.
• Kondo Racing replaced TGMGP-bound Kazuto Kotaka with former Williams Academy driver Zak O'Sullivan, who moved to Japan after coming 16th in Formula 2 with ART Grand Prix.
• Newly rebranded team TGMGP also took on two new drivers as Juju Noda and Hiroki Otsu both left the team following its switch from Honda to Toyota engines, with Noda switching to the new Triple Tree Racing team and Otsu electing to focus on his Super GT GT500 efforts with ARTA. Kazuto Kotaka joined the team after coming 14th with Kondo Racing in his second season in 2024. Hibiki Taira, who drove Team Impul's No. 19 car on four occasions in 2024, completed TGMGP's lineup on his full-time debut in the series.
• Juju Noda joined the new Triple Tree Racing team for her second season in the championship after finishing her debut season with TGM Grand Prix in 21st.

Mid-season changes

• Oliver Rasmussen was forced to withdraw from the first two rounds at Suzuka after suffering a back injury in a crash in free practice. Rasmussen's replacement for the two races was announced to be TGMGP's reserve driver Seita Nonaka, who came 3rd in Super Formula Lights with TOM'S and made his series debut.
• Kamui Kobayashi missed the Motegi double-header due to a calendar clash with the WEC's 6 Hours of Imola. Nonaka deputized once again after doing so for Team Impul at the Suzuka season opener. With Rasmussen still not cleared for competition after his crash at the opening round, Team Impul signed 2024 Super Formula Lights runner-up Rikuto Kobayashi to make his series debut in his place.
• Oliver Rasmussen returned for the third round at Autopolis after he recovered from his back injury.
• Toyota reevaluated the lineup of its TGMGP junior team after round five at Autopolis: reserve driver Seita Nonaka was promoted to one of the team's race seats, while Hibiki Taira was in turn demoted to serve as Toyota's reserve driver.

Race calendar

Calendar changes

• All weekends except the ones at Autopolis and Sportsland Sugo were scheduled as double-headers, making this the longest calendar in Super Formula history. The Sugo round moved from June to August, while the Motegi round moved from August to April
• The series originally planned its first race outside Japan since 2004 with a round held at Inje Speedium. These plans, however, were cancelled in October 2024. It marked the second time that a planned round at Inje was cancelled.
• Race ten, originally scheduled to be held on the same weekend as race nine, was postponed to the final meeting at Suzuka because of fog.

Regulation changes

Race results

Round	Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team
1	Suzuka International Racing Course	Season report First half The 2025 Super Formula season began with a Team Mugen 1-2 in qualifying at Suzuka. Tomoki Nojiri led Ayumu Iwasa, but lost out to the Red Bull junior at the start, while Kakunoshin Ohta held third for Dandelion Racing. Three safety cars shaped the 27-lap race, with the second one crucially falling on the opening of the pit window on lap ten. That led to the whole field stopping together, with Mugen forced to double-stack and Nojiri falling out of the top five. That allowed Ohta to rejoin in second, and he passed Iwasa at the start of lap 14 before another incident neutralised proceedings once more. The race resumed on lap 18, where Ohta retained control despite Iwasa remaining within a second. Ohta took his third consecutive Suzuka win by 0.197s, with Nakajima's Ren Sato completing the podium after passing TOM'S driver Sho Tsuboi at Turn 1 on the second restart. Nojiri and Iwasa repeated their qualifying 1-2 a day later for round two, ahead of the Dandelion pair of Tadasuke Makino and Ohta. Iwasa led the opening lap before stopping early together with Ohta, the latter cutting the final chicane while overtaking Iwasa and receiving a five-second penalty. Makino extended his first stint to lap 20 and briefly ceded position to Ohta after rejoining on cold tyres, but reclaimed the lead on lap 24 using the advantage of fresher rubber. The race ended under the safety car following Kondo's Zak O’Sullivan crashing at Turn 2 after contact with Impul's Seita Nonaka, preventing Ohta from mitigating the penalty and dropping him to 12th. Makino kept the victory after a post-race investigation into the safety car procedure, with Tsuboi classified second and Iwasa third. Iwasa left Suzuka leading the championship on 30 points, seven ahead of Tsuboi. Round three at Motegi saw Makino lead a Dandelion Racing front-row lockout ahead of Ohta, with Igor Fraga starting third for Nakajima Racing. Makino retained the lead at the start while Fraga moved past Ohta and briefly challenged for first before settling into second. The race was neutralised on the opening lap when Inging's Toshiki Oyu hit Sato at Turn 1. Ohta pitted as soon as the window opened on lap 10, Fraga stopped on lap 17, and Makino responded one lap later. Ohta briefly cycled to the front through the undercut but Makino reclaimed the lead at Turn 1 on lap 22 and pulled away to victory. Ohta held off Fraga for second, while Iwasa rose to fourth with a late stop before retiring with a gear-selection failure, promoting Tsuboi to fourth. That saw Makino end the day with a five-point championship lead over Ohta, with Tsuboi 13 points behind the new leader. Kondo Racing's Kenta Yamashita claimed pole position for the second Motegi race, but his race unraveled straight away as a collision left TGMGP's Hibiki Taira stranded in the gravel, prompting a first-lap safety car and pitstops for fourteen drivers. Yamashita had a slow stop that saw him lose the lead to Ohta, before his right rear tire came loose and he dropped down the order. Makino led the seven drivers that elected not to stop, holding out in hope of another interruption before pitting on lap 23. He came out in fifth and quickly rose to second, but Ohta had built a twelve-second gap by that point, allowing him to comfortably manage the rest of the race. Iwasa mirrored Makino's strategy, pitting even later on lap 28, to complete the podium in third. Ohta's victory saw him retake the championship lead by a single point over his teammate, with Iwasa behind in third. Autopolis hosted round five of the season, where Nojiri led Yamashita in qualifying. Tsuboi and Iwasa, who had started fifth and seventh, both had very good getaways that saw them move right behind Nojiri into the podium places as Yamashita dropped to fourth. Iwasa took his mandatory stop on lap 15, with Nojiri and Tsuboi both following on lap 19. That saw Iwasa take the net lead as Tsuboi got past Noriji into a net second place on their outlap. On lap 27, Iwasa's front-right wheel came loose, robbing him of an almost certain maiden victory as he dropped down the field and later retired. Tsuboi took the lead and with it the win, 1.1 seconds ahead of Nojiri, with Yamashita promoted back onto the podium. Pre-race leaders Ohta and Makino finished 13th and eighth, respectively, with Makino retaking a four-point championship lead and Tsuboi now only 14 points behind. A double-header at Fuji Speedway followed, and Nojiri was once again on top in qualifying. Tsuboi started alongside him in second place, but pressured Nojiri for the opening two laps before taking the lead. The defending champion then pulled away, while Nojiri tried fighting back on strategy by pitting early on lap eleven. Tsuboi stayed out until lap 23, which saw Nojiri retake the net lead of the race. Tsuboi's much fresher tyres saw him soon close up to Nojiri and he retook the lead to win by 6.7 seconds. Iwasa took third by also staying out long and capitalizing on fresher tyres, passing KCMG's Nirei Fukuzumi, who had qualified third and remained there for much of the race, with five laps to go. Points leader Makino finished fifth after a poor start dropped him to tenth, so he was forced to relinquish his championship lead to Tsuboi by two points, with Ohta now third. Second half Tsuboi went one better in qualifying for the second Fuji race by taking pole position ahead of Ohta and Sato. He fended Ohta off at the start as the pair gapped the field. Iwasa elected to stop early on lap eight, before a safety car was called when Nonaka lost a wheel on lap 18. That saw the rest of the leaders pit, and Iwasa was able to take the race lead. A three-way battle between Iwasa, Tsuboi and Ohta followed when racing resumed, with Iwasa trying to keep the other two behind him despite being on older tyres. Ohta moved past Tsuboi into second on lap 31 after the latter failed to move past Iwasa. He shadowed the leader and took the lead going into the first turn on lap 33. Iwasa held on to second, while third for Tsuboi saw him retain the championship lead. Makino came home ninth, dropping to third in the standings, behind Ohta, who trailed Tsuboi by three points. Qualifying for round eight at Sportsland SUGO saw Iwasa claim his first pole position of the year ahead of TOM'S driver Sacha Fenestraz and Inging's Sena Sakaguchi. Rain meant the race started behind the safety car, and when it was withdrawn on lap six, Fenestraz attacked Iwasa as Tsuboi moved into third. Iwasa fended off Fenestraz and began pulling before the safety car came back out after Sato spun out into the gravel. Iwasa handled the second restart on lap 15, before another interruption followed when ThreeBond's Atsushi Miyake hit the wall after sustaining damage in a collision. Fenestraz could not pressure Iwasa on the final restart, and the Mugen driver pulled away to take his maiden Super Formula victory, and with it second in the standings. Tsuboi lost his podium finish to Fukuzumi after running wide at the final corner, meaning he led Iwasa by five points. Super Formula's return to Fuji Speedway was heavily affected by rain. Qualifying for the first of the two scheduled races saw Iwasa set the fastest time before crashing into 100R, causing a red flag and deleting his laptime. That saw Fenestraz inherit pole position ahead of Tsuboi and Nojiri. Persistent rain ahead of the race meant it was started behind the safety car, and with conditions not improving, red flags flew after six laps under caution. A restart was tried after 30 minutes. Eight more laps behind the safety car followed, but then the rain worsened again, so the race was abandoned and Fenestraz declared the winner. That saw half points awarded, meaning Tsuboi in third now had a 14.5-point lead over Iwasa. The second race of the weekend was not held because of weather conditions, with the round postponed to the final weekend at Suzuka. The season's final weekend at Suzuka now held three races, and Iwasa claimed pole position ahead of Nojiri and Fraga for the first of them. He had a slow start, allowing Nojiri past him and Fraga alongside him exiting turn one. The pair made contact through the esses, putting Iwasa into the wall and out of the race. That saw Nojiri lead Fraga and Sato during the ensuing safety car. The race resumed on lap six, before another safety car was called on lap nine after a crash for O'Sullivan. That saw the entire field make their mandatory pit stop on lap ten, shuffling Sato down the order as a result of him being directly behind his teammate. Makino benefitted to move into third place. The order remained static at the top for the rest of the race, allowing Fraga to claim the Rookie of the Year title with his maiden podium and Tsuboi to extend his lead to 16.5 points after finishing fourth. The penultimate race of the season retained the starting grid set in qualifying at Fuji, putting Makino on pole position ahead of Fraga. The freshly crowned Rookie of the Year converted the best qualifying result of his Super Formula career into the race lead right into the first corner, with Makino consigned to second, Ohta slotting into third and Iwasa taking fourth. With no mandatory pitstops during the shortened race, the order at the front remained static throughout. Fraga scored an unchallenged maiden victory, the first for his Nakajima Racing team since 2022. The three championship contenders behind him all closed on Tsuboi in the standings, as the reigning champion was only able to take seventh. That saw both Dandelion drivers trail Tsuboi by 9.5 points, with Iwasa a further three points behind going into the final race of the season. Iwasa claimed a crucial pole position for the final race of the season to reduce his deficit to Tsuboi by a further three points. This time, his start was clean and he slotted into the lead as Sato moved past Nojiri into second place. He got his mandatory pitstop out of the way on lap seven, before a safety car was called on lap eleven. That saw the rest of the field stop to change tyres, with Iwasa keeping the lead and Ohta moving up to second place. Sato moved back into second place on lap 15, before chasing down Iwasa. With Tsuboi in seventh, losing the lead would have also cost Iwasa the title, but he held the lead for the rest of the race to take his second Super Formula victory and with it also the championship title. Ohta in third sealed the same place in the championship standings, 1.5 points behind runner-up Tsuboi. The 2025 Super Formula Championship delivered the closest title fight in recent history. Iwasa started the season strongly to leave the opening double-header leading the standings, before the Dandelion pair of Ohta and Makino dominated at Motegi. The next few races belonged to defending champion Tsuboi, who held on to the championship lead the longest, claiming it after the first race at Fuji and leading until the final race. That race began with Iwasa fourth in the standings, but winning when it counted coupled with a rare weekend off the pace for Tsuboi saw Iwasa take the title by just 4.5 points. Championship standings Scoring system ; Race points Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th  Points 20 15 11 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 ; Qualifying points Position  1st   2nd   3rd  Points 3 2 1 Drivers' championship Notes: – Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance. Teams' championship Notes: – Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.