The 2021 Japanese Super Formula Championship was the forty-ninth season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the ninth under the moniker of Super Formula. Naoki Yamamoto entered the 2021 season as the defending drivers' champion.

Tomoki Nojiri took his first drivers' championship at the penultimate round at Motegi, while Team Impul took their first teams' championship since 2010 at the season finale.

Teams and drivers Every Honda-powered car used a Honda HR-414E engine and every Toyota-powered car used a Toyota RI4A engine. TeamEngineDriverRounds TCS Nakajima RacingHonda1 Naoki Yamamoto All64 Toshiki Oyu All Kondo RacingToyota3 Kenta Yamashita All4 Yuichi Nakayama1–5 Sacha Fenestraz6–7 Docomo Team Dandelion RacingHonda5 Nirei Fukuzumi All6 Ukyo Sasahara1–2 Tadasuke Makino3–7 carrozzeria Team KCMGToyota7 Kazuto Kotaka1–5, 7 Kamui Kobayashi618 Yuji Kunimoto All Drago Corse with ThreeBondHonda12 Tatiana Calderón1–2, 6–7 Koudai Tsukakoshi3–5 NTT Communications ROOKIE Toyota14 Kazuya Oshima All Red Bull Mugen Team Goh Honda 15 Hiroki Otsu All Team Mugen 16 Tomoki Nojiri All carenex Team ImpulToyota19 Yuhi Sekiguchi All 20 Ryō Hirakawa1–3, 5–7 Mitsunori Takaboshi4 Kuo Vantelin Team TOM’SToyota36 Kazuki Nakajima1, 6 Giuliano Alesi2–5, 737 Ritomo Miyata All P.mu/Cerumo・INGINGToyota38 Sho Tsuboi All39 Sena Sakaguchi All B-Max Racing Honda51 Nobuharu Matsushita2–7

Team changes Team Mugen run one car, as the other car run together with Servus Japan under Team Goh. The team named Red Bull Mugen Team Goh. Rookie Racing who previously operated by Cerumo, would run independently by themselves. The team get new title partner from NTT Communications, the team named NTT Communications ROOKIE. Team Impul runs new sponsorship from Itochu as they will run under black gold colour. The team rebranded as carenex Team Impul.

Driver changes Three-time and defending series champion Naoki Yamamoto moved to TCS Nakajima Racing after spending two seasons with Dandelion Racing. This was Yamamoto's first time driving for Nakajima Racing since his rookie season in 2010. While Tadasuke Makino moved to Docomo Team Dandelion Racing after two seasons with Nakajima Racing. Hiroki Otsu gets a full time seat after an appearance in the last round in 2020, as he raced with Red Bull Mugen Team Goh. 2019 series champion Nick Cassidy has exited the series, following his move to the FIA Formula E World Championship with Envision Virgin Racing. Cassidy's replacement is Super Formula Lights champion Ritomo Miyata, who race for two races in 2020 in relief of Kazuki Nakajima. Two-time series champion Hiroaki Ishiura has retired from the series. With reigning Formula Regional Japanese Champion Sena Sakaguchi picked as Ishiura's replacementfor P.mu/Cerumo・INGING. Yves Baltas was scheduled to compete for B-Max Racing, but did not enter any rounds.

Mid-season changes Kamui Kobayashi: missed all but the sixth round at Motegi due to commitments in the WEC and IMSA. Kazuto Kotaka was his replacement. Sacha Fenestraz missed the first five rounds because of visa issues. Yuichi Nakayama was his replacement. Tadasuke Makino missed the first two rounds of the season due to a his recovery from meningitis. Ukyo Sasahara was his replacement. Nobuharu Matsushita: joined B-Max Racing from the second round at Suzuka. He was initially denied an engine lease from Honda, after signing a factory racing contract with Nissan in the Super GT Series. This prevented him from racing in the opening round at Fuji. Honda would reverse their decision after Masaya Nagai replaced Hiroshi Shimizu as the Director of Motorsport at Honda. Kazuki Nakajima missed both Suzuka rounds, Autopolis, SUGO, and the fifth round at Motegi. Giuliano Alesi was his replacement. Tatiana Calderon missed Autopolis, Sugo, and the fifth round at Motegi (was able to participate in the April Suzuka round because of local regulations with her licence, which is from the ACC, the Colombian ASN of the FIA, unlike the Japanese drivers, who have JAF licences). Koudai Tsukakoshi was her replacement for the third to the fifth round. Ryo Hirakawa missed the SUGO round because he was tested TGR WEC car and not make in time for quarantine. Mitsunori Takaboshi covers for him.

Race calendar The provisional calendar was announced on 6 August 2020. After heavy disruptions to the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the series returned to a more traditional schedule, with Suzuka Circuit hosting the season finale as it was usual. On 12 April 2021, the organisation announced the cancellation of the Okayama round, which was due to be held in the first week of October. Instead, a second round at Motegi was confirmed. RoundCircuitDate1Fuji Speedway4 April2Suzuka International Racing Course25 April3Autopolis16 May4Sportsland SUGO20 June5Twin Ring Motegi29 August617 October7Suzuka International Racing Course31 October

Results

Season summary RoundCircuitPole PositionFastest LapWinning driverWinning team1Fuji Speedway Tomoki Nojiri Toshiki Oyu Tomoki Nojiri Team Mugen2Suzuka International Racing Course Nirei Fukuzumi Hiroki Otsu Tomoki Nojiri Team Mugen3Autopolis Giuliano Alesi Tomoki Nojiri Giuliano Alesi Kuo Vantelin Team TOM’S4Sportsland SUGO Yuhi Sekiguchi Tomoki Nojiri Nirei Fukuzumi Docomo Team Dandelion Racing5Twin Ring Motegi Tomoki Nojiri Yuhi Sekiguchi Tomoki Nojiri Team Mugen6Twin Ring Motegi Hiroki Otsu Toshiki Oyu Hiroki Otsu Red Bull Mugen Team Goh7Suzuka International Racing Course Nobuharu Matsushita Tomoki Nojiri Nirei Fukuzumi Docomo Team Dandelion Racing

Championship standings

Race points

Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th Points2015118654321 Qualifying points Position 1st  2nd  3rd Points321

Drivers' Championship

Overall PosDriverFUJSUZ1AUTSUGMOTMOT2SUZ2Points1 Tomoki Nojiri111256115332 Nirei Fukuzumi3Ret1131Ret1213553 Yuhi Sekiguchi17†4103122444 Ryō Hirakawa42Ret4Ret2465 Toshiki Oyu22103726141126 Hiroki Otsu165610101157 Sena Sakaguchi9112383521335.58 Nobuharu Matsushita133433612133.59 Tadasuke Makino145273102410 Ritomo Miyata76427891411 Giuliano Alesi91191682012 Ukyo Sasahara5331813 Naoki Yamamoto6891212Ret291314 Kenta Yamashita121211141586815 Sho TsuboiRet7Ret159Ret16616 Kazuki Nakajima117417 Sacha Fenestraz137418 Yuji Kunimoto8RetRet1311Ret15319 Kazuya Oshima1015818Ret11172.520 Kamui Kobayashi10121 Mitsunori Takaboshi11022 Koudai Tsukakoshi1216Ret023 Yuichi Nakayama141415Ret13024 Tatiana Calderón1317Ret19025 Kazuto Kotaka151616†1714180PosDriverFUJSUZ1AUTSUGMOTMOT2SUZ2Points

Teams' championship PosTeamNo.FUJSUZ1AUTSUGMOTMOT2SUZ2Points1carenex Team Impul1917†41032442042Ret114Ret22Docomo Team Dandelion Racing53Ret131Ret12165314573103Team Mugen1611561534TCS Nakajima Racing16891212Ret96421072614115P.mu/Cerumo・INGING38Ret7Ret159Ret16399112852136Kuo Vantelin Team TOM’S3611919167837764789147Red Bull Mugen Team Goh1516561010158B-Max Racing511334361229.59 Kondo Racing3121211141586124141415Ret1313710carrozzeria Team KCMG7151616†171410184188RetRet1311Ret1511NTT Communications ROOKIE141015818Ret11172.512Drago Corse with ThreeBond1213171216RetRet190PosDriverFUJSUZ1AUTSUGMOTMOT2SUZ2Points

Notes

References

External links Japanese Championship Super Formula official website