F4 Japanese Championship
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The F4 Japanese Championship(ＦＩＡ－フォーミュラ４ 地方選手権, FIA F4 Chihou Senshuken) is a formula racing series held in Japan regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was held in 2015.
History
Gerhard Berger and the FIA Single Seater Commission launched the current FIA Formula 4 in March 2013. The goal of FIA Formula 4 was to make the ladder to Formula 1 more transparent. Besides sporting and technical regulations, costs are regulated too: Any eligible car may not exceed a purchase price of €30,000. A single season in Formula 4 may not exceed €100,000 in costs.
The F4 Japanese Championship was launched by the GT Association on 16 December 2014, as one of the second phases of Formula 4 championships to be launched following the Italian F4 Championship and Formula 4 Sudamericana which launched in 2014. All rounds are support events to the Super GT Series.
Japanese race car constructor Dome was contracted to design and build the spec F110 chassis. The cars are constructed out of carbon fibre and feature a monocoque chassis. The engine is a 2.0-litre TOM'S Toyota inline-four. Dunlop (Sumitomo Rubber Industries) is the tyre supplier.
The series is open to drivers aged 16 and up. While primarily contested by young drivers moving up the single-seater ladder, older amateur drivers also compete in the series in the Independent Cup category.
A second-generation F4 Japanese Championship car built by Toray Carbon Magic, called the MCSC-24, was first revealed in 2022 and will debut in 2024, with an integrated halo safety device and a more powerful TOM'S Toyota engine.
Point system
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| Points | 20 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Champions
All teams and drivers were Japanese-registered.
Drivers
| Season | Driver | Team | Poles | Wins | Podiums | Fastest laps | Points | Clinched | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Japan Sho Tsuboi | Japan TOM'S Spirit | 4 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 195 | Race 14 of 14 | 3 |
| 2016 | Japan Ritomo Miyata | Japan TOM'S Spirit | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 142 | Race 14 of 14 | 4 |
| 2017 | Japan Ritomo Miyata | Japan TOM'S Spirit | 5 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 231 | Race 14 of 14 | 7 |
| 2018 | Japan Yuki Tsunoda | Japan Honda Formula Dream Project | 8 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 245 | Race 14 of 14 | 14 |
| 2019 | Japan Ren Sato | Japan Honda Formula Dream Project | 8 | 11 | 13 | 5 | 311 | Race 10 of 14 | 164 |
| 2020 | Japan Hibiki Taira | Japan TGR-DC Racing School | 7 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 270.5 | Race 10 of 12 | 90 |
| 2021 | Japan Seita Nonaka | Japan TGR-DC Racing School | 1 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 217 | Race 14 of 14 | 4 |
| 2022 | Japan Syun Koide | Japan Honda Formula Dream Project | 8 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 279 | Race 14 of 14 | 33 |
| 2023 | Japan Rikuto Kobayashi | Japan TGR-DC Racing School | 5 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 221 | Race 14 of 14 | 12 |
| 2024 | Japan Yuto Nomura | Japan HFDP with B-Max Racing Team | 3 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 236 | Race 13 of 14 | 69 |
| 2025 | Japan Tokiya Suzuki | Japan TGR-DC Racing School | 3 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 219 | Race 14 of 14 | 7.5 |
Teams
| Season | Team | Poles | Wins | Podiums | Fastest laps | Points | Margin | Independent Class Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Japan TOM'S Spirit | 4 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 225 | 9 | not held |
| 2016 | Japan Honda Formula Dream Project | 1 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 203 | 21 | |
| 2017 | Japan Honda Formula Dream Project | 9 | 11 | 26 | 6 | 314 | 83 | |
| 2018 | Japan Honda Formula Dream Project | 12 | 10 | 23 | 7 | 316 | 106 | |
| 2019 | Japan Honda Formula Dream Project | 14 | 14 | 25 | 14 | 350 | 213 | |
| 2020 | Japan TGR-DC Racing School | 7 | 10 | 17 | 4 | 273.5 | 93 | |
| 2021 | Japan TGR-DC Racing School | 3 | 8 | 17 | 10 | 285 | 25 | |
| 2022 | Japan Honda Formula Dream Project | 10 | 12 | 23 | 7 | 336 | 111 | |
| 2023 | Japan TGR-DC Racing School | 6 | 8 | 22 | 5 | 290 | 58 | |
| 2024 | Japan HFDP with B-Max Racing Team | 9 | 8 | 18 | 8 | 260 | 80 | Japan B-Max Racing Team |
| 2025 | Japan HYDRANGEA Kageyama Racing | 5 | 8 | 17 | 8 | 269.5 | 44.5 | Japan B-Max Racing Team |
Independent Cup
| Season | Driver | Team | Wins (Indep/Cup) | Podiums (Indep/Cup) | Points (Indep/Cup) | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Japan Masayuki Ueda | Japan Rn-sports | 2 | 10 | 207 | 6 |
| 2019 | Japan Sergeyevich Sato | Japan Field Motorsport | 5 | 11 | 241 | 59 |
| 2020 | Japan Sergeyevich Sato | Japan Field Motorsport | 6 | 10 | 225 | 27.5 |
| 2021 | Japan "Hirobon" | Japan Rn-sports | 4 | 11 | 238 | 15 |
| 2022 | Japan Yutaka Toriba | Japan HELM Motorsports | 10 | 12 | 306 | 104 |
| 2023 | Japan Makoto Fujiwara | Japan B-Max Racing Team | 3 | 5 | 191 | 12 |
| 2024 | Japan "Dragon" | Japan B-Max Racing Team | 5 | 9 | 202 | 2.5 |
| 2025 | Japan Nobuhiro Imada | Japan B-Max Racing Team | 3 | 11 | 226 | 1.5 |
Circuits
- Bold denotes a circuit is used in the 2026 season.
| Number | Circuits | Rounds | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shizuoka Prefecture Fuji Speedway | 22 | 2015–present |
| 2 | Mie Prefecture Suzuka Circuit | 14 | 2015–present |
| 3 | Tochigi Prefecture Mobility Resort Motegi | 12 | 2015–present |
| 4 | Miyagi Prefecture Sportsland Sugo | 10 | 2015–2019, 2021–present |
| 5 | Ōita Prefecture Autopolis | 8 | 2015, 2017–2019, 2022–present |
| 6 | Okayama Prefecture Okayama International Circuit | 5 | 2015–2019, 2026 |
In other media
The 2023 anime Overtake! is based around the F4 Japanese Championship.