Top 5: Rovanperäto shift to single-seaters… in Japan

1, Sho Tsuboi
Japan’s Super Formula is among the world’s most competitive, powerful and pure single-seater series. Two-time WRC title winner (2022 and ’23) Kalle Rovanperä will have his work cut out against mature rivals who are fully tuned into the Japanese scene – not least the reigning champion. Sho Tsuboi, 30, is
a three-time Super GT champion who has been racing in Super Formula since 2019. He switched to Toyota-supported TOM’S last year, duly won the championship and, with rounds at Suzuka to come, looks on course to retain his crown. Make that plural: he’s topping the Super GT points too. Tsuboi has recently tested for Toyota-affiliated Haas, although at his age an F1 promotion looks unlikely. He has also tasted the Nordschleife for the first time this year, in a Supra GT4.

2, Ayumu Iwasa
As Red Bull’s F1 reserve, Ayumu Iwasa, 24, is a familiar face on the Euro scene. He made two F1 free practice appearances for the team now known as Racing Bulls in ’24 and stepped in for Max Verstappen for a session in Bahrain this year. Following two fine seasons in F2 with DAMS – fifth and fourth in ’22 and ’23 – returning last year to his homeland must have felt like a step backwards. Results were disappointing. But in August, the Team Mugen ace scored his first Super Formula win at Sugo and is pushing Tsuboi for the title.

3, Kakunoshin Ohta
Going into the final rounds of the 2025 season, 26-year-old Kakunoshin ‘Kaku’ Ohta had the most wins (three) in Super Formula this term. Driving for Honda-powered (and brilliantly named) Team Dandelion, Ohta is in his third season of Super Formula and, with a dual background in Super GT like so many Japanese racers, this year he has also sampled the North American IMSA sports car series, with appearances in both GTP with Acura Meyer Shank Racing and in LMP2.

4, Tadasuke Makino
A long-time bridesmaid to previous team-mates such as Álex Palou, perhaps it was no surprise that there were tears when he finally won a Super Formula race at Autopolis in May last season, which was followed up three months later with victory at Motegi. Also a Honda frontrunner in Super GT, Makino emerged as one of Tsuboi’s closest Super Formula rivals in 2024. Twice a winner for Team Dandelion this term, he was a feature race winner in F2 as long ago as 2018.

5, Tomoki Nojiri
By now, you should be getting the picture: Rovanperä has taken on one of motor sport’s greatest challenges in trying to crack Japan – especially as he lacks a grounding in single-seaters. Here’s another example why. Tomoki Nojiri is 36, has raced in Super Formula for a dozen years, won back-to-back titles for Team Mugen in 2021 and ’22, has tasted victory in the series on 13 occasions – and will know every trick in the book. Brave move, Kalle. But are you daunted? You should be.