2026 Super Formula Championship

The 2026 Japanese Super Formula Championship is the fifty-fourth season of premier Japanese single-seater motor racing, and the fourteenth under the moniker of Super Formula. Team Mugen driver Ayumu Iwasa entered the season as the defending series champion.

Teams and drivers

All teams use identical Dallara-built SF23 chassis with either Honda or Toyota engines. Every Honda-powered car uses a Honda HR-417E engine and every Toyota-powered car uses a Toyota TRD-01F engine. All teams compete with tyres supplied by Yokohama.

Team changes

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

• 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.

• 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. 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.

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

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.

• 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. 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 opening round, before the team decides on its lineup afterwards. 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.

• Following Yamashita's departure to KCMG, Zak O'Sullivan also left Kondo Racing after his rookie season to join Team Impul. 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.

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

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

• 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.

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

• Reigning Super Formula Lights champion and Honda Formula Dream Project graduate Yuto Nomura made his series debut with B-Max Racing Team. 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.

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

Race calendar

The provisional calendar was announced on 5 August 2025, with 12 races held across seven weekends at five venues.

Calendar changes

• The first Suzuka race moved from March to May, with Motegi holding the season opener instead.

Race results

Season report

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. 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.

Ohta continued his strong form in qualifying for the second race by taking pole position, while Toshiki Oyu of Inging took second. 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.

Championship standings

Scoring system

Race points

Qualifying points

Drivers' championship

Teams' championship

Notes

External links