2019 Super Formula Championship

The 2019 Japanese Super Formula Championship was the 33rd season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the seventh under the moniker of Super Formula. The season began on 21 April at Suzuka Circuit and ended on 27 October at the same location.[1]

2019 Super Formula Championship
Previous:	2018	Next:	2020
Support series: TCR Japan Touring Car Series Japanese F3 Championship

2019 marked the first season of the Dallara SF19 chassis package, while continuing the engine configuration of the preceding chassis.[2]

Nick Cassidy clinched his first Driver's Championship title, after finishing ahead of reigning champion Naoki Yamamoto at the season finale at Suzuka.[3] DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing won their first Teams' Championship title since 2012, with Naoki Yamamoto and Nirei Fukuzumi driving for them.[4]

Teams and drivers

Team	No.	Driver	Engine	Rounds
DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	1	Naoki Yamamoto[5]	Honda	All
	5	Nirei Fukuzumi[5]		All
Team Mugen	15	Dan Ticktum[6]		1–3
		Patricio O'Ward[7]		4–6
		Jüri Vips[8]		7
	16	Tomoki Nojiri[5]		All
Real Racing	17	Tristan Charpentier[9]		1
		Koudai Tsukakoshi[10]		2–7
B-MAX Racing with Motopark[11]	50	Lucas Auer[6]		All
	51	Harrison Newey[9]		All
TCS Nakajima Racing	64	Álex Palou[9]		All
	65	Tadasuke Makino[5]		All
Kondō Racing	3	Kenta Yamashita[12]	Toyota	All
	4	Yuji Kunimoto[12]		All
UOMO Sunoco Team LeMans	7	Artem Markelov[12]		1–5
		Yuichi Nakayama[13]		6–7
	8	Kazuya Oshima[12]		All
carrozzeria Team KCMG	18	Kamui Kobayashi[12]		All
Itochu Enex Team Impul[12]	19	Yuhi Sekiguchi[12]		All
	20	Ryo Hirakawa[12]		All
Vantelin Team TOM'S	36	Kazuki Nakajima[12]		All
	37	Nick Cassidy[12]		All
JMS P.mu/cerumo・INGING	38	Hiroaki Ishiura[12]		All
	39	Sho Tsuboi[12]		All

Team changes

• German team Motopark will enter the championship in collaboration with the B-MAX Racing Team.[11]

Driver changes

Honda

• Lucas Auer announce to joining Super Formula with B-MAX Motopark after Mercedes AMG shut down their DTM project.[11] Former FIA European Formula Three Championship driver Harrison Newey was later confirmed in a second B-MAX car.[9]
• 2018 champion Naoki Yamamoto moves to Team Dandelion Racing after eight seasons driving for Team Mugen. He is joined by Nirei Fukuzumi, who completed a partial season with Mugen in 2018 alongside FIA Formula 2.[9] Nobuharu Matsushita leaves Team Dandelion after a single season, returning to Formula 2 with Carlin.
• Tomoki Nojiri moves from Team Dandelion to Team Mugen.[9] He will be partnered by 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship runner-up and two-time Macau Grand Prix winner Daniel Ticktum, who competed in two rounds for the team in 2018.[6]
• Koudai Tsukakoshi leaves Real Racing's Super Formula team after six seasons. He is replaced by Tristan Charpentier, who raced in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship in 2018.[9] Prior to the second round of the championship, it was announced that Tsukakoshi would be returning to the seat for the remainder of the season.
• Narain Karthikeyan and Takuya Izawa are replaced at Nakajima Racing by Formula 2 race winner Tadasuke Makino and former European and Japanese Formula Three driver Álex Palou. Karthikeyan will remain with the team in Super GT.[9]

Toyota

• 2018 series runner-up Nick Cassidy will move from Kondō Racing to Team Tom's, replacing James Rossiter.[12]
• 2016 champion Yuji Kunimoto will take Cassidy's place at Kondo Racing, after Toyota promoted 2018 Japanese F3 champion Sho Tsuboi to his former seat at cerumo・INGING.[12]
• Artem Markelov, a five-season veteran of the GP2 Series and FIA Formula 2 with Russian Time, joins Super Formula in the #7 Team LeMans, which in 2018 was driven by both Pietro Fittipaldi and Tom Dillmann.[12]

Mid-season changes

• Tristan Charpentier left Real Racing after the first round. He had qualified two seconds off the pace in the first round and crashed heavily in the race. He was replaced by veteran racer Koudai Tsukakoshi for the rest of the season.[10]
• Dan Ticktum left Team Mugen after the third round. He was dropped by the Red Bull Junior programme and subsequently lost his Super Formula drive.[14] He was replaced by new Red Bull Junior, Patricio O'Ward for the remainder of the season.[7] However, O'Ward was dropped prior to the final round from the Red Bull Junior Team and thus for the final round, the seat was filled by Estonian Jüri Vips.
• Yuichi Nakayama replaced Artem Markelov at the sixth round due to Markelov being called up to race for BWT Arden in the FIA Formula 2 Championship

Race calendar and results

The calendar with seven rounds was announced in August 2018.[1][15]

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team
1	Suzuka Circuit	21 April	Tadasuke Makino	Álex Palou	Nick Cassidy	Vantelin Team TOM'S
2	Autopolis	19 May	Yuji Kunimoto	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Itochu Enex Team Impul
3	Sportsland Sugo	23 June	Naoki Yamamoto	Lucas Auer	Naoki Yamamoto	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing
4	Fuji Speedway	14 July	Álex Palou	Álex Palou	Álex Palou	TCS Nakajima Racing
5	Twin Ring Motegi	18 August	Álex Palou	Artem Markelov	Ryo Hirakawa	Itochu Enex Team Impul
6	Okayama International Circuit	29 September	Ryo Hirakawa	Kamui Kobayashi	Kenta Yamashita	Kondō Racing
7	Suzuka Circuit	27 October	Álex Palou	Nick Cassidy	Tomoki Nojiri	Team Mugen

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Pole
Rounds 1-6	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	1
Round 7	13	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	1

Driver standings

Pos Driver SUZ AUT SUG FUJ MOT OKA SUZ Points 1 Nick Cassidy 1 8 4 3 3 10 2 36 2 Naoki Yamamoto 2 2 1 11 9 7 5 33 3 Álex Palou Ret 6 13 1 4 4 19 26 4 Tomoki Nojiri 4 18 Ret 4 8 9 1 24 5 Kenta Yamashita 3 7 6 17 13 1 9 21 6 Kamui Kobayashi 9 10 2 6 2 18 12 19 7 Nirei Fukuzumi 11 5 5 9 5 Ret 3 18 8 Yuhi Sekiguchi Ret 1 10 8 15 13 4 16 9 Lucas Auer 7 11 3 Ret 7 5 11 14 10 Ryo Hirakawa Ret 14 11 12 1 12 8 12 11 Sho Tsuboi 5 12 Ret 2 17 11 10 12 12 Kazuki Nakajima Ret 13 12 5 16 2 14 12 13 Hiroaki Ishiura Ret 9 7 7 6 Ret 6 10 14 Kazuya Oshima 12 3 17 13 11 8 17 7 15 Harrison Newey Ret 17 Ret 16 19 3 20 6 16 Tadasuke Makino Ret 4 14 10 Ret 17 13 6 17 Yuji Kunimoto 6 16 8 15 10 16 15 5 18 Patricio O'Ward 14 14 6 3 19 Koudai Tsukakoshi 15 9 18 18 14 7 2 20 Dan Ticktum 8 Ret 15 1 21 Artem Markelov 10 Ret 16 19 12 0 22 Yuichi Nakayama 15 16 0 23 Jüri Vips 18 0 24 Tristan Charpentier Ret 0 Pos Driver SUZ AUT SUG FUJ MOT OKA SUZ Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Teams' Championship

Pos	Team	No.	SUZ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	MOT	OKA	SUZ	Points
1	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	1	2	2	1	11	9	5	5	50
		5	11	5	5	9	5	Ret	3
2	Vantelin Team TOM'S	36	Ret	13	12	5	16	2	14	48
		37	1	8	4	3	3	10	2
3	TCS Nakajima Racing	64	Ret	6	13	1	4	4	19	28
		65	Ret	4	14	10	Ret	17	13
4	Itochu Enex Team Impul	19	Ret	1	10	8	15	13	4	27
		20	Ret	14	11	12	1	12	8
5	Team Mugen	15	8	Ret	15	14	14	6	18	25
		16	4	18	Ret	4	8	9	1
6	Kondō Racing	3	3	7	6	17	13	1	9	25
		4	6	16	8	15	10	16	15
7	JMS P.mu/Cerumo・INGING	38	Ret	9	7	7	6	Ret	6	22
		39	5	12	Ret	2	17	11	10
8	B-MAX Racing with Motopark	50	7	11	3	Ret	7	5	11	20
		51	Ret	17	Ret	16	19	3	20
9	carrozzeria Team KCMG	18	9	10	2	6	2	18	12	19
10	UOMO Sunoco Team LeMans	7	10	Ret	16	19	12	15	16	7
		8	12	3	17	13	11	8	17
11	Real Racing	17	Ret	15	9	18	18	14	7	2
Pos	Team	No.	SUZ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	MOT	OKA	SUZ	Points

References

1. "2019 Super Formula Tentative Schedule". August 18, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
2. Thukral, Rachit (June 16, 2018). "New Super Formula SF19 car completes first shakedown running". Autosport. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
3. Klein, Jamie (October 27, 2019). "Suzuka Super Formula: Cassidy wins title in tense finale". Motorsport.com. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
4. "Team Standings | Race Calendar 2019 | SUPER FORMULA Official Website". JP SUPER FORMULA (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-10-27.
5. Klein, Jamie (19 November 2018). "Honda to switch F2 racers Fukuzumi, Makino to Super Formula in 2019". Autosport. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
6. "THE RED BULL JUNIOR TEAM AND THE HONDA FORMULA DREAM PROJECT". 5 December 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
7. Benyon, Jack (30 June 2019). "O'Ward takes over Ticktum's Super Formula seat at Team Mugen". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
8. Thukral, Rachit (18 October 2019). "Vips replaces O'Ward for Super Formula finale". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
9. Thukral, Rachit (11 January 2019). "Honda reveals details of Super Formula line-up shuffle". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
10. Thukral, Rachit (9 May 2019). "Rookie Charpentier axed after one Super Formula race". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
11. Simmons, Marcus (14 November 2019). "Motopark confirms 2019 Super Formula move". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
12. Thukral, Rachit (7 February 2019). "Markelov joins Super Formula as Toyota reveals 2019 drivers". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
13. Thukral, Rachit (24 September 2019). "Markelov's replacement for Okayama announced". Motorsport.com.
14. Mitchell, Scott (8 June 2019). "Red Bull drops Ticktum from junior programme". motorsport.com.
15. "2019 SUPER FORMULA: Series Calendar". superformula.net. Retrieved 20 April 2019.

External links

• Japanese Championship Super Formula official website (in English)