Five big unanswered questions heading into Super Formula 2025
Some key themes to watch as the new Super Formula season gets underway with a double-header this weekend at Suzuka... (Photos JRP)
Predicting the order for the upcoming Super Formula season has always been extremely difficult, but this year, the unwelcome sight of snow at Suzuka Circuit during last month’s two-day pre-season test has made it tougher still.
The weather gods deprived us of one of the two planned test days, and also rendered the morning session pretty much worthless in terms of representative running. All we are left with is the afternoon session from that first day — still a far-from-perfect guide to the order, especially as it was interrupted by a number of incidents.
Here’s a reminder of how the top times looked in that session (full results here):
Tadasuke Makino (Dandelion) 1’36.116
Nirei Fukuzumi (KCMG) +0.027
Atsushi Miyake (ThreeBond) +0.280
Kakunoshin Ohta (Dandelion) +0.378
Kamui Kobayashi (KCMG) +0.450
Ren Sato (Nakajima) +0.450
Check out the new Japan Racing Roundup Podcast to hear more about the Super Formula season to come, including insights from engineer Tomo Koike and Sacha Fenestraz.
That Dandelion Racing’s Tadasuke Makino topped the times shouldn’t come as a particular surprise, especially as he was fastest in last December’s post-season Suzuka test, where he also had the benefit of sampling teammate Kakunoshin Ohta’s car.
Together with Ohta, Makino has to be considered among the favourites heading into the new season, along with reigning champion Sho Tsuboi, who was seventh in the February test. Team Mugen pair Tomoki Nojiri and Ayumu Iwasa were next up, and it would be a surprise if they too weren’t at least in the mix this weekend.
But with so little information to go on, there’s plenty of scope for an upset — and with two races this weekend, getting off to a strong start is more important than ever. So here are some of the big questions that have the potential to shape the coming season, that the Suzuka weekend will hopefully provide a few answers to: