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. [27]
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. [28]
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. [29]
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. [30]
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. [31]
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. [32]
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. [33]
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. [34]
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. [35] The second race of the weekend was not held because of weather conditions, with the round postponed to the final weekend at Suzuka. [36]
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. [37]
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. [38]
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. [39]
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.
