2026 Super Formula Championship

Team changes

• Super Formula Lights team Delightworks Racing joined the series. The team uses Honda engines and receives operational support from Toda Racing.^[11][12]

• TGM Grand Prix expanded to three Toyota-powered cars, adding a single car entered under the Team Goh name which returned to Super Formula after a three-year absence.^[13]

• Transport and logistics company Realize Corporation, a longtime sponsor of Kondo Racing, officially became the team's title sponsor, with the team entering as Realize Kondo Racing.^[6] Kondo Racing also expanded to three Toyota-powered cars, adding a single car sponsored by used vehicle marketplace Navikuru running under the name Navikuru Buzz MK Racing.^[5][14]

• Automotive parts and accessories retailer Autobacs Seven officially became Team Mugen's title sponsor, with the team entering as Team Mugen Autobacs.^[2]

Driver changes

• Nobuharu Matsushita returned to Super Formula for the first time since 2024 with the new Delightworks Racing team after a year on the sidelines where he competed in Super GT GT500 with ARTA.^[11]

• Two-time FIA World Rally Champion Kalle Rovanperä announced he would switch to single-seater racing and debut in Super Formula in 2026, before being confirmed to drive for KCMG.^[6][15] Ahead of the season, the team announced his withdrawal from the campaign after he was diagnosed with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. KCMG's reserve driver Seita Nonaka replaced him for the first five rounds.^[8] The other KCMG car is piloted by Kenta Yamashita, who departed Kondo Racing after nine seasons. Both drivers effectively replaced Kamui Kobayashi and Nirei Fukuzumi, who moved to TGMGP TGR-DC and Rookie Racing respectively.^[6]

• Following Yamashita's departure to KCMG, Zak O'Sullivan also left Kondo Racing after his rookie season to join Team Impul.^[6] That saw Kondo take on two new drivers in Williams F1 Junior Driver Luke Browning, who made his series debut after one and a half seasons in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, and Ukyo Sasahara, who returned to Super Formula after a year away from the series where he competed in Super GT GT500 with Deloitte TOM'S.^[3][4]

• Rookie Racing signed Nirei Fukuzumi from KCMG to replace Kazuya Oshima, who retired from the series after 13 seasons of competition.^[16][6]

• Both Oliver Rasmussen and Mitsunori Takaboshi left Team Impul after one season, with Takaboshi focusing on his Super GT GT500 efforts with NISMO.^[17][18] The Team recruited former Kondo Racing driver Zak O'Sullivan for his sophomore season.^[6]

• TGMGP also renewed their lineup as Kazuto Kotaka, Hibiki Taira, and Seita Nonaka all left the team, with Kotaka and Taira focusing on their Super GT GT300 campaigns and Nonaka moving to KCMG. Kamui Kobayashi left KCMG after nine seasons to drive for TGMGP TGR-DC, using the number 7, the same number he has used in KCMG, and Rikuto Kobayashi made his full-time Super Formula debut with the team after two seasons in Super Formula Lights and two one-off Super Formula entries for Team Impul in 2025.^[6]

• Second-generation driver Charlie Wurz made his series debut with Team Goh after two seasons in the FIA Formula 3 Championship.^[6]

• Reigning Super Formula Lights champion and Honda Formula Dream Project graduate Yuto Nomura made his series debut with B-Max Racing Team.^[1] He replaced Syun Koide, who joined ThreeBond Racing to replace Atsushi Miyake, who departed after two seasons to focus on his Super GT GT500 efforts with Kondo Racing.^[10][17]

• After 3 seasons in FIA Formula 2 Championship, Roman Staněk made his series debut for Kondo's Buzz MK Racing outfit.^[5]

Calendar changes

• The first Suzuka race moved from March to May, with Motegi holding the season opener instead.^[20]
• Race three, originally scheduled to be held at Autopolis, was postponed to the first Fuji weekend after being called off due to adverse weather conditions.^[21]

First half

For the first time since 2020, the season opener was held at Mobility Resort Motegi, and reigning champion Ayumu Iwasa took pole position for Team Mugen ahead of Team Dandelion's Kakunoshin Ohta.^[22] The first race of the season, held in very wet conditions, was red-flagged because of rain after three laps under the safety car. An hour later, it was restarted with twelve more laps under the safety car. The race went green on lap 16, before a crash forced another safety car right away. That was withdrawn on lap 20, and Ohta made a crucial move past Iwasa to take the lead before the race's time window ended after 23 laps were completed. Ohta thereby secured victory, albeit with only half points awarded, with Iwasa second and Ren Sato heading a Nakajima Racing 3-4 after his teammate Igor Fraga overtook Yuto Nomura of B-Max during the brief green flag period.^[23][24]

Ohta continued his strong form in qualifying for the second race by taking pole position, while Toshiki Oyu of Inging took second.^[25] Oyu's teammate Sena Sakaguchi jumped from fifth to third at the start of the race, before an early safety car was called after an off for TGMGP's Rikuto Kobayashi. Oyu pitted on lap ten, with Sakaguchi and Ohta staying out for longer to capitalize on clean air. Both drivers were able to overcut Oyu, with Sakaguchi waiting until lap 25 to make his stop. He used his fresher tyres to close up to Ohta, but was unable to make a move for the lead. Ohta won the race to start the season with a double victory, while Oyu lost out even more when his tyres degraded. Nirei Fukuzumi, who stopped on lap 29, also overcut him to secure his Rookie Racing team's first-ever Super Formula podium in the team's seven-year competition history in third place.^[26][27]

The round at Autopolis was called off and postponed due to heavy rain, so the next pair of races was held at Suzuka.^[28] Iwasa claimed pole position for the first race ahead of his teammate Tomoki Nojiri.^[29] He led the opening part until a heavy crash for KCMG's Seita Nonaka caused a safety car on lap 18. Pitting under yellow saw Iwasa retain the lead ahead of Ohta, but the latter passed him at the restart. Rain then began to fall, and incidents for Fraga and Nojiri caused a second interruption. Many elected to take on wet tires, promoting TOM'S driver Sacha Fenestraz, who stayed out on slicks, into the lead. That decision would turn out to be the right one as the rain did not intensify. Fenestraz headed Delightworks Racing's Nobuharu Matsushita and teammate Sho Tsuboi on dry tires as Ohta, the highest finisher on wet tires, took seventh to keep a 20.5-point lead over Iwasa.^[30]

Fukuzumi claimed his team's maiden series pole position, and his first since 2024, in qualifying for the second race.^[31] Iwasa qualified second, but initially dropped behind multiple other cars. Fukuzumi controlled the opening stint until Iwasa made his pit stop on lap 21. Fukuzumi and Ohta followed on lap 22, before Iwasa was able to move back into second place past Ohta as the latter exited the pits. Iwasa then challenged Fukuzumi and passed him for the lead on lap 27, before Fukuzumi got back past him one lap later. Iwasa tried once again two laps later, but Fukuzumi was able to fend him off. That brought Ohta into the fight, and Iwasa had to defend his second place. With Ohta unable to make his way past Iwasa, the top three remained static. Fukuzumi took his and his team's maiden victory by 0.2 seconds as Iwasa shortened Ohta's championship advantage to 14.5 points.^[32]

Next up was the season's first weekend at Fuji Speedway, where Impul's Zak O'Sullivan mastered the wet conditions in qualifying to take his maiden pole position for the first race.^[33] He led Oyu and Kondo's Luke Browning through the first stint, while Dandelion's Tadasuke Makino and Ohta rose up from their lowly qualifying positions. Ohta pitted on lap 20, already in fourth place at that point, and when O'Sullivan pitted on lap 23, Ohta was able to use his warmed up tires to get past him into the lead. O'Sullivan was initially able to stay close to the leader, but then dropped to 1.5 seconds behind as he managed the rest of his race. Ohta took victory after starting 13th, growing his lead over Iwasa to 34.5 points after the latter qualified 22nd and was only able to score one point. Makino stopped on lap 29, but was unable to challenge the top two afterwards and finished third.^[34]

Fuji then hosted a shortened race to make up for the cancelled Autopolis round. That race used the qualifying results from Autopolis, placing Iwasa on pole position ahead of Ohta. Iwasa had a bad start and was caught up in a four-car incident that led to his retirement at the opening corner. Ohta took over in the lead as Fraga had a great getaway and moved from ninth on the grid to fourth. When the circuit was cleaned up and the race restarted, Ohta was attacked by Sakaguchi and both ran wide in turn one. Fraga capitalized to take the lead and Nojiri moved into second. Sakaguchi then retired with gearbox problems, while Ohta dropped out of contention as he was hit with a ten-second penalty after a mechanic illegally dryed his grid spot ahead of the race. Frage took victory ahead of Nojiri and Tsuboi, with Ohta taking eight place to slightly grow his points lead again.^[35][36]

Second half

The weekend at Fuji concluded with round seven of the championship, started on pole position by Nojiri ahead of Makino.^[33] A 45-minute delay and a safety car period preceded the race after Sato's broken gearbox spilled oil on the track. Ohta started third and took the lead in the first four green-flag laps, before Nojiri was the first to pit on lap eleven. Iwasa followed on lap 14 from fourth, which saw the pair cycle to the front once the stops were completed. Ohta waited until lap 26 to make his stop, after which he resumed in third. His much fresher tyres saw him able to close back up to Iwasa, taking second on lap 29 before moving into the lead on lap 30. Nojiri and Iwasa then also dropped off the podium behind Fraga, Makino and Tsuboi. Ohta took his fourth win of the year, which saw him leave Fuji with more than double the points of his nearest challenger Iwasa.^[35]

Scoring system

Race points

The race at Autopolis was postponed to the first Fuji race weekend due to adverse weather conditions. This race, shortened to 25 laps, will award reduced points:^[37]

Qualifying points

Drivers' championship

Pos Driver MOT SUZ1 FUJ1 SUG FUJ2 SUZ2 Pts R1[d] R2 R4 R5 R6 R3[b] R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 1 Kakunoshin Ohta 12  11 7 3 1 82 13 42 105 2 Ayumu Iwasa 21  83 131 22 10 Ret1 5 2 59.5 3 Nirei Fukuzumi 19  3 10  11 23 19 8 1 58 4 Igor Omura Fraga 4 16 Ret 8 6 1 2 33 51 5 Tadasuke Makino 11 13 11 63 3 4 32 6 41 6 Sho Tsuboi 9 14 3 5 15 3 4 7 37 7 Sacha Fenestraz 6 Ret 1 7 11 5 13 8 34.5 8 Toshiki Oyu 14 52 6 17 42 6 7 15 31 9 Tomoki Nojiri 8 18 Ret2 11 24 23 61 51 30.5 10 Sena Sakaguchi 12  2 12 4 7 Ret 11 Ret 27 11 Zak O'Sullivan Ret 6 9 20 21 16 15 9 27 12 Luke Browning 20 4 4 14 83 10 17 11 20 13 Nobuharu Matsushita 16 10 2 12 17 17 16 16 16 14 Syun Koide 5 9 18 18 5 11 12 13 11 15 Ren Sato 33 11 Ret 9 13 9 Ret 10 10.5 16 Charlie Wurz 15 20 5 22 21 15 18 18 6 17 Yuto Nomura 7 15 153 13 9 14 14 20 5 18 Kenta Yamashita 13 7 Ret 16 14 13 10 14 5 19 Roman Staněk 10 17 8 15 16 21 19 Ret 3.5 20 Rikuto Kobayashi 18 Ret 16 23 19 7 20 21 3 21 Kamui Kobayashi Ret 12 17 10 12 12 9 12 3 22 "Juju" Ret 22 14 21 22 Ret NC 17 0 23 Seita Nonaka 17 19 Ret 19 18 0 24 Giuliano Alesi 18 Ret 19 0 25 Ukyo Sasahara Ret 21 Ret Ret 20 20 21 Ret 0 Pos Driver R1[d] R2 R4 R5 R6 R3[b] R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 Pts MOT SUZ1 FUJ1 SUG FUJ2 SUZ2

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Did not enter (cell empty) Text formatting Meaning Bold Pole position Italics Fastest lap

Teams' championship

Pos	Driver	MOT		SUZ1		FUJ1			SUG	FUJ2		SUZ2		Pts
		R1[d]	R2	R4	R5	R6	R3[b]	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12
1	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	1	1	7	3	1	4	1	4					133
		11	13	11	6	3	8	3	6
2	Vantelin Team TOM'S	6	14	1	5	11	3	4	7					71.5
		9	Ret	3	7	15	5	13	8
3	Team Mugen Autobacs	2	8	13	2	10	2	5	2					69
		8	18	Ret	11	24	Ret	6	5
4	Ponos Nakajima Racing	3	11	Ret	8	6	1	2	3					59.5
		4	16	Ret	9	13	9	Ret	10
5	NTT Docomo Business Rookie	19	3	10	1	23	19	8	1					55
6	Sanki Vertex Partners Cerumo・Inging	12	2	6	4	4	6	7	15					54
		14	5	12	17	7	Ret	11	Ret
7	Team Impul	Ret	6	9	20	2	16	15	9					24
8	Realize Kondo Racing	20	4	4	14	8	10	17	11					19
		Ret	21	Ret	Ret	20	20	21	Ret
9	Delightworks Racing	16	10	2	12	17	17	16	16					16
10	ThreeBond Racing	5	9	18	18	5	11	12	13					11
11	Team Goh	15	20	5	22	21	15	18	18					6
12	KDDI TGMGP TGR-DC	18	12	16	10	12	7	9	12					6
		Ret	Ret	17	23	19	12	20	21
13	KCMG	13	7	Ret	16	14	13	10	14					5
		17	19	Ret	19	18	18	Ret	19
14	San-Ei Gen with B-Max	7	15	15	13	9	14	14	20					4
15	Navikuru Buzz MK Racing	10	17	8	15	16	21	19	Ret					3.5
16	Hazama Ando Triple Tree Racing	Ret	22	14	21	22	Ret	NC	17					0
Pos	Driver	R1[d]	R2	R4	R5	R6	R3[b]	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	Pts
		MOT		SUZ1		FUJ1			SUG	FUJ2		SUZ2