Super Formula preview: Rounds 6 & 7

Written by Tarun Suresh, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri

Last time around at Fuji International Speedway | Credit: Super Formula

Super Formula will be visiting Toyota’s home circuit, the Fuji International Speedway, for Rounds 6 and 7 of the 2025 season. Located at the base of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka, the circuit provides some of the best racing on the calendar. 

The Driver’s Championship is starting to heat up, with Tsuboi closing the gap to championship leader Tadasuke Makino (65 points) to just 14 points. Kakunoshin Ohta is second in the standings, just four points behind Makino.

All eyes will be on the newly crowned King of Fuji, Tsuboi, a four-time winner at this circuit, with three of those victories coming last year. His lap times at the mid-season test sessions held last time were consistently some of the best, even in changing conditions.

He’s also carrying tremendous momentum from last race, which saw him end Dandelion’s six-race win-streak of dominance. With the recent announcement of his testing for the Haas F1 team in a private test at Fuji, morale is certainly at a high in the Tsuboi camp. When he gets the ball rolling, Tsuboi is a force to be reckoned with.

While he might be the favourite to win, there are certainly drivers who can give Tsuboi a hard time. Chief among those will be the Dandelion drivers, Makino and Ohta. The top two drivers in the championship have won the first four races of the season, each of them having two to their name. Keeping Tsuboi from closing the gap to them in the standings will be at the top of their priorities this weekend.

Despite coming closer numerous times this season, Ayumu Iwasa is still chasing his first win in Super Formula. He was consistently one of the best drivers in tests last month, even topping the final test session. He will be one to look out for this weekend.

Tomoki Nojiri got his first podium in eight races at round 5 | Credit: Super Formula

His teammate at Team Mugen, Tomoki Nojiri, has begun to find his footing after struggling since the halfway point of last season. He’s coming off the back of his first podium of the season and impressive test sessions, and will be looking to build on the recent success.

With this being a circuit that favours the Toyota-powered cars, the two KCMG drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Nirei Fukuzumi and the Inging drivers Toshiki Oyu and Sena Sakaguchi might also be in the fight for the top spots.

After standing in for the injured Oliver Rasmussen in the first two races and Kamui Kobayashi in the next two, Seita Nonaka will be making his full-time debut at KDDI TGMGP TGR-DC, replacing Hibiki Taira at the team. Nonaka impressed Toyota after finishing third in the Super Formula Lights Championship last year, his rookie tests and his first four races this year, the last of which saw him score his first points with an eighth-place finish.

Predictions for rounds 6 & 7:

Round 6: Nojiri will claim pole but Tsuboi wins the race.

Round 7: Tsuboi wins from pole.

What are your predictions for the weekend? Let us know below!

Qualifying for round 6 will take place at 9:10 AM JST on Saturday, and the race will take place later that evening at 3:15 PM JST.

Qualifying for round 7 will take place at 10:10 AM JST on Sunday, and the race will take place on the same day at 3:15 PM JST.