Photo: Red Bull

Every year, some of junior single-seaters’ top drivers are handed professional opportunities. Some lead to long-term careers in sportscars, while others try out the more cut-throat world of F1 and IndyCar

In addition to annually ranking the top 50 drivers in junior single-seater racing since 2011, Formula Scout also recognises the achievements of the very best of those who ‘graduate’ into the world of professional racing each year.

After making his Formula 1 debut in last year’s season finale, Jack Doohan began 2025 with a full-time seat at Alpine but he only lasted six race weekends before being demoted back to the reserve driver role he had spent the previous two years in.

His replacement was Franco Colapinto, who had starred in his surprise step up to F1 in 2024 when he joined Williams for the final third of the season. He scored five points in nine races, while in 2025 he went points-free and had several costly crashes. Alpine was uncompetitive at most events, and Colapinto was thoroughly outshone by team-mate Pierre Gasly. He initially raced with a five-round deal, then held the seat race-by-race before Alpine committed at the end of the European leg of the season to keeping Colapinto in the car for the rest of 2025. By November, the seat was then retained for 2026 too.

In IndyCar, Jacob Abel realised his dream of being on the grid by leaving his family’s Abel Motorsports team after eight years with them. He joined Dale Coyne Racing, whose place in the pecking order was up and down during the season, but the 2024 Indy Nxt runner-up failed to make a mark at the top level. He was in the top 20 in just one qualifying session and two races.

Seita Nonaka somehow pieced together a near-complete rookie campaign in Super Formula. He started off with Team Impul at Suzuka, then raced for KCMG at Twin Ring Motegi where he finished eighth in race two to claim his only points.

After missing the next round, he returned to the grid in TGM Grand Prix’s line-up for the remaining events and set the fastest lap in the season’s third race at Fuji Speedway. Despite handling his team switches well, Nonaka didn’t turn his four seasons of Super Formula Lights experience into big results like other SF rookies have been capable of and was 17th in the standings.

Photo: KCMG

The driver he replaced at TGM GP was fellow Toyota junior Hibiki Taira, who did four races with Impul in 2024 and scored two points as well as racing a lot in sportscars. His 2025 SF campaign began so weak he was demoted to a reserve driver role.

After being a reserve driver for an F1 and a Formula E team in 2024, Zane Maloney didn’t continue with either in 2025 to pursue a race seat in FE with Lola Yamaha Abt. It resulted in coming a points-free last in the championship.

Roy Nissany became the most experienced driver in the history of second-tier single-seater racing in 2023, then was out of action last year. He returned to racing in 2025 in the European Le Mans Series, and came 15th in his first campaign racing prototype sportscars. His team-mate for the first three races was Francesco Simonazzi, with the 2024 Euroformula runner-up also doing three races in International GT Open which put him 27th in the standings.

Eligible for this list until June, when he returned to junior single-seaters, was Joseph Loake. As can often be the case, his career lost momentum when he stepped up from Britain’s racing scene to the FIA Formula 3 Championship last year and scored eight points to sit 26th in the table. Prior to that he had won a touring car title, starred in British Formula 4 and come third in GB3, and this year his main programme was with Garage 59 in GT World Challenge Europe’s Enduro rounds.

At what can be considered the top level of GT racing (a status several championships can put a claim on), Loake was Monza Three Hours runner-up, went second fastest in his qualifying session at the Spa 24 Hours before his team-mate Marvin Kirchhofer put their McLaren 720S GT3 Evo on pole, then finished that race in sixth. That crew, completed by Kirchhofer’s fellow McLaren factory driver Benjamin Goethe, ended the season an impressive seventh in the Endurance Cup standings.

Clearly with an eye still on an open-wheel dream, despite earning McLaren’s backing in sportscars, Loake made a USF Pro 2000 cameo at Road America and finished fifth on debut in North American single-seaters’ third tier.

As none of the names in bold made the cut, here is Formula Scout’s Class of 2024… Key Wins (W), poles (P), fastest laps (FL)

10. Levente Revesz HUNGARY 20y/o
Int. GT Open champion (4 W, 1 P, 1 FL), 9th in 24H Series Middle East Trophy – GT3 class   2024: 5th in Euroformula (1 W, 2 FL)   2023: 9th in Euroformula (1 W), 25th in FRegional Europe & FRegional Middle East

Photo: Fotospeedy

Some drivers become far more competitive with a switch of disciplines, as proven by Revesz in a canny career move this year.

He was a backmarker throughout his single-seater career, scoring 15 points across 92 races in five championships over three years, until he stepped up to the third-tier Euroformula championship for the last three rounds of its 2023 season.

By then the championship utterly lacked depth, and was ruled by German outfit Motopark which was propping up the entry list but also dominating with ease. Since Revesz joined the grid with Motopark, and he was in an eight-car field, he was able to take a win and two other podiums.

That prompted him to stick about for 2024 with the team, and against a similarly uninspiring opposition he claimed one win and seven other podiums before dropping off the grid with two rounds to go. By then Motopark had also become a top team in the International GT Open championship, which like Euroformula is promoted by GT Sport.

Revesz moved into its GT squad for 2025, and he unlocked far more performance than ever before as he won four races in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo he co-drove and was crowned champion.

9. Syun Koide JAPAN 26y/o
11th in Super GT, 16th in Super Formula   2024: Super Formula Lights champion

Photo: Super Formula

Photo: Super Formula Lights

By Honda’s reckoning, Koide has not done enough to earn a second season in SF but his rookie campaign with B-MAX Racing still had highlights. And while his team is certainly a heavyweight in junior single-seaters, as proven by Koide’s own march to the 2024 SF Lights title with them, it isn’t at the top level where it only runs one car.

Koide started his SF career by qualifying seventh for his first race at Suzuka, a track he has never been strong at historically. That impressive result was thrown away at the start as he limped off the line and dropped to last. After the first safety car period he was gapped by the rest of the field, but in the race’s second half he rose to 14th place.

The next day he qualified 12th, and had a far better race. Two places were lost at the start, but he gained those back and two more with a lengthy first stint. He utilised his fresher tyres to then pass Kamui Kobayashi, before a penalty lifted him to eighth.

Two 14th places at Twin Ring Motegi followed, then Koide was off the pace and got a penalty at Autopolis. He bounced back by qualifying 11th for race one at Fuji Speedway, but another slow start set up an opening lap in which he gained and lost places. By lap four he had been shuffled down to 18th, and after pitting early he only made it back up to 15th.

A very similar thing occurred the next day, consigning Koide to 17th. Sportsland Sugo was very different, as Koide set the pace in free practice one. But in qualifying a totally avoidable kerb-riding moment caused damage that meant he stopped a few moments later and triggered red flags. From last place, he climbed up to 13th in the race.

Koide had top-10 potential on the return to Fuji but qualified 13th, and despite heavy rain meaning the race ran entirely behind the safety car he was able to fall to last on lap two. Race two, which Koide qualified ninth for, was cancelled due to fog.

That meant the final round at Suzuka became a triple-header, and opening lap action proved to be Koide’s biggest weakness again until the last race. A great launch lifted him from 12th to ninth, he made two further places during the lap then after his pitstop dropped him to 10th he made two overtakes on a safety car restart before scoring points in ninth.

8. Gabriel Bortoleto BRAZIL 21y/o
19th in F1   2024: F2 champion (2 W, 2 P, 2 FL)   2023: FIA F3 champion (2 W, 1 P, 3 FL)

Photo: Sauber Group

Bortoleto’s career accelerated on F1’s support bill, winning the FIA F3 and Formula 2 titles back-to-back and being picked up by Sauber to race in F1 this year.

While the memorable moments of his rookie campaign were mostly crashes, including a 57G shunt on home soil, he still shone on the most competitive stage of all and was the lead Sauber driver at the chequered flag in 10 grands prix.

Bortoleto had spent 2023 and ’24 as a McLaren junior, so was familiar with F1 simulators and facilities, but since it was a different team he debuted with there was plenty of learning to do surrounding its working methods.

It was clear that chief technical officer Mattia Binotto [pictured above] had a lot of faith in Bortoleto’s abilities and when Sauber was at its strongest he was consistently progressing to Q2 and even making it to Q3 three times. This included outqualifying Fernando Alonso, who helms the A14 Management firm which oversees Bortoleto’s career.

The unfamiliar tracks after F1’s European leg unsurprisingly led to a dip in form, but he still scored a point in Mexico City.

Bortoleto raced without the pressure of fighting for his future, since he was signed on a two-year deal, but staying out of trouble when fighting for positions is still an area needing improvement so not to add to his crash count.

7. Zak O’Sullivan ENGLAND 20y/o
15th in SF, 3rd in Super GT – GT300 class (1 W, 1 FL)   2024: 16th in F2 (2 W, 1 FL)   2023: 2nd in FIA F3 Championship (4 W, 1 P, 3 FL)

Photo: Super Formula

In addition to being Envision Racing’s simulator driver in FE, O’Sullivan joined Toyota’s ranks to race in SF this year.

Despite being a Williams junior and having been called up to drive in an F1 practice session while still in F3, a funding issue cut O’Sullivan’s rookie F2 season short in 2024. He had won the feature race in Monaco and a shortened Spa-Francorchamps sprint race, but was actually one of the slowest in the field on race pace and lacked consistency.

SF was a totally different challenge, including a language barrier, on tracks he was totally new to. But O’Sullivan adapted instantly by qualifying 10th on debut and finishing that race in eighth.

He failed to finish in race two at Suzuka, but at Motegi he rose from 14th to 12th in race one, then from 13th to 11th in race two, and at Autopolis he qualified eighth. He saved his car from spinning as it squirreled while he went up the gears at the race’s start, which briefly dropped him to 11th, and was up to fourth when he crashed out before making his required pitstop.

Fuji was a low point for pace, qualifying no higher than 19th and therefore not being in contention for points, but in race one he was faster than Kondo Racing team-mate Kenta Yamashita as he rose to 14th. His potential was shown far better at Sugo, where he qualified eighth then finished seventh in the wet.

He applied what he had learned on the return to Fuji, and utilised his wet-weather prowess, to net an 11th place finish.

In the Suzuka finale there was a huge crash in race one, he could do little from from the back of race two’s grid, and it was a similar story in race three. Meanwhile in Super GT, which marked his first foray into sportscars and in a car shared with an inexperienced team-mate, O’Sullivan took a win and a second place en route to third in the GT300 class standings.

For a total newcomer to Japanese racing, and in SF’s pitstop era, it was a year to be proud of.

6. Jamie Chadwick ENGLAND 27y/o
3rd in European Le Mans Series (3 W), DNF in Le Mans 24H   2024: 7th in Indy Nxt (1 W, 1 P)   2023: 12th in Indy Nxt

Photo: Javier Jimenez

Chadwick’s victory in Indy Nxt last year showed how much she had developed since her rookie season in 2023, but she changed trajectory for 2025 by joining IDEC Sport in the European Le Mans Series. She was partnered with Mathys Jaubert and Dani Juncadella, both established GT racers but rookies in the LMP2 prototype class they were entering.

The trio started fifth for their debut at Barcelona (which like all races was four hours long), and were down to 11th at one point but made their way to the front and finished second. They then won at Paul Ricard, despite ending a wet opening lap in 14th. There was plenty of early drama, and Chadwick rose to fifth before handing over as the track became more treacherous.

It was an up-and-down race at Imola, where the crew spent time in the lead but then quickly ended up a lap down, returned to the lead lap then fell several laps behind. The trio lost a lot of time in traffic, but Chadwick did best at not losing places.

At Spa-Francorchamps, she ran fifth until two pitstops during a virtual safety car period. Prolonged interruptions meant no opportunities to recover places, and after her stint ended the crew’s race got harder and they finished 18th.

On home soil at Silverstone an early pitstop put Chadwick in 15th, and she recovered to 11th before the driver changes began and more places were gained. Her team-mates took the car further up the order to a win that revitalised their title hopes. At the Algarve finale. Chadwick lost second place on lap one, cannily reclaimed it a few laps later while lapping traffic then was shuffled down to fifth. Not long before being swapped out, she took fourth in a dramatic moment she triggered. While a fourth podium was claimed, with their title rivals ahead it meant IDEC’s trio came third in the standings.

Chadwick also drove the car at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and ran sixth in class during her double stint. IDEC competed in collaboration with Genesis Magma Racing, which has signed Chadwick as reserve driver for its Hypercar squad next year.

5. Louis Foster ENGLAND 22y/o
23rd in IndyCar (1 P)   2024: Indy Nxt champion (8 W, 7 P, 7 FL)   2023: 4th in Indy Nxt (2 W, 4 P, 2 FL), 12th in FRegional Oceania (1 W, 4 FL)

Photo: Chris Jones

Photo: RLLR

IndyCar’s Rookie of the Year may have only come 23rd in the standings, as one of only three full-time drivers without a top-10 finish, but he also claimed a pole, led three races and impressed Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing enough to land a multi-year contract extension.

The championship rivals F1 for its strength in depth, physical intensity, variety of circuits and onus on experience, and Foster had two full-time team-mates who already had 328 starts between them so had plenty of knowledge to lean on.

He qualified 16th for his debut, but retired in a lap one collision, so round two at The Thermal Club marked his first exposure to tyre durability in race conditions. Foster started 10th, way ahead of his team-mates, and ran in eighth early on before he lost pace and drifted down the order with each stint until he was a lapped 24th. It was an important day of learning.

Qualifying was Foster’s strength everywhere but ovals, as he started in the top 10 for six races on road and street courses but on average qualified 19th for oval races.

On Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course he qualified third and finished 11th, his joint-best race result which was repeated at Road America where he took pole and was almost a second quicker than team-mate Graham Rahal in sixth. At Mid-Ohio he finished 14th from sixth on the grid, and also made the top 10 in Toronto and at Laguna Seca.

Foster’s tally of 14 finishes from 17 races was a better record than seven drivers in the field, and he was the leading RLLR driver across the line in four races including the second one around the Iowa Speedway oval.

The 2024 Indy Nxt champion’s best oval race in IndyCar was his first: the Indianapolis 500. He qualified 20th, ran as high as sixth, and finished on the lead lap in 12th.

4. Igor Fraga BRAZIL/JAPAN 27y/o
6th in SF (1 W, 2 FL), 18th in Super GT – GT300 class   2024: NC in Super GT – GT300 class   2023: 4th in SF Lights (1 W, 1 P, 1 FL), 23rd in Super GT – GT300 class

Photo: Super Formula

Formerly an esports star, a Formula Regional champion and a Red Bull junior, Fraga returned to real-world racing two years ago and came fourth in SF Lights with one win and 23rd in Super GT’s GT300 class. He continued there in 2024, while waiting on the sidelines for a chance to race at single-seaters’ top level in SF.

That happened in 2025 as Nakajima Racing signed him, and he seized the opportunity with both hands.

He qualified eighth for his debut, but had to start from the pits and then got caught in an incident that put him a lap down. While he started 14th for race two the next day, Fraga was in the top 10 by the second corner. Having ended lap one in eighth, he then joined several other drivers in taking the risk of an early pitstop on lap two. It paid off, and he charged to sixth before a penalty moved him up another spot.

At Motegi he was 0.135s away from claiming pole for race one, and finished only 3.772s behind the winner in third. It wasn’t so simple for race two, as he started sixth, struggled for pace early on and dropped to 15th before recovering to ninth place.

Fraga said the set-up was very sensitive, and he was driving the car in an agressive style with possibly more time in races spent side-by-side with rivals than any other driver in the field. When there were clashes, he came out on top.

A fall from sixth to 20th in the first two laps at Autopolis prompted Fraga to pit on lap three, and from there he climbed back up to eighth. The Fuji double-header was productive too. He qualified in the top eight both times, finished eighth in race one then ran seventh in race two before making a second pitstop put him a lap down. Sixth and eighth places at Sugo and Fuji followed, and he was 0.076s off pole for the race that got rescheduled to run at Suzuka.

Fraga qualified third, finished second and set the fastest lap in race one, led every lap of race two to deliver Nakajima’s first win since 2022, then rose from sixth to fourth (with fastest lap) in the finale.

3. Andrea Kimi Antonelli ITALY 19y/o
7th in F1 (1 P, 3 FL)   2024: 6th in F2 (2 W, 4 FL)   2023: FREC champion (5 W, 4 P, 5 FL), FRME champion (3 W, 3 P, 5 FL)

Photo: Mercedes-AMG F1

Photo: Mercedes-AMG F1

The Mercedes-AMG F1 team’s long-time protege finally arrived at single-seaters’ top level this year, and immediately slotted into a seat with his backer as its seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton left for Ferrari.

Joining a race-winning team as a rookie rather than learning the challenges of F1 under a little less pressure with a team further down the grid meant Mercedes had to protect and support Antonelli rather than outsource that responsibility and it was slow to react at times to both external issues, such as social media abuse, and internal like drops in confidence.

In only his fifth year of single-seater racing, Antonelli became the highest-scoring F1 rookie of all time, the youngest driver to lead an F1 race and finished on the podium four times including sprint races.

However team-mate George Russell scored over twice as many points as him, an important metric for assessing any driver’s season, and only two drivers (one being Bortoleto) exceeded his tally of retiring from four grands prix.

Antonelli qualified 12 places lower than Russell on debut, but finished one place behind him in fourth and was only two places behind in qualifying next time out, which was for the Chinese Grand Prix’s sprint race. In his first eight races, the teenager only finished lower than seventh once but in the next nine rounds he had his four non-finishes and only scored twice. That was the European leg of the season, mostly on familiar tracks, but he couldn’t click with the soft (C6) tyre compound.

The exception was the Canadian Grand Prix, a track he had no reference for and therefore nothing to lose confidence against, and he qualified fourth on the C6 tyres then clinched his maiden podium in third place.

In the flyaway leg of the season, Antonelli’s confidence returned and he grabbed three more podiums. At Interlagos, he started and finished second in both the sprint race and grand prix, the latter after holding off Max Verstappen. The drive was touted as a sign of what’s to come from the young Italian.

2. Ollie Bearman ENGLAND 20y/o
13th in F1   2024: 18th in F1, 12th in F2 (3 W)   2023: 6th in F2 (4 W, 3 P, 2 FL)   2022: 3rd in FIA F3 Championship (1 W, 1 FL)

Photo: Haas F1

Photo: Haas F1

Outscoring his grand prix-winning team-mate Esteban Ocon in his rookie season was a stellar job by Bearman, who learned a lot from his three F1 races in 2024 (that catapulted him into his 2025 seat and a likely future berth at Ferrari).

The highlight was the Mexico City Grand Prix, where he took his and Haas’s (joint) best race result in F1 by finishing fourth.

That came in a run of four consecutive Q3 appearances, which translated into points finishes each time. Bearman also converted a strong start position into points at Suzuka, while at several events he showed an ability to charge up the order.

He rose from 17th to eighth in the Chinese GP, 20th to 10th at Bahrain (between Red Bull Racing’s Yuki Tsunoda and Antonelli), and from the pitlane to sixth at Zandvoort. That was down to a power unit change, which would’ve boosted his pace.

Like Antonelli, Bearman already has a colossal fanbase and he expertly handled the attention and pressure of the F1 paddock. In fact, he looked at ease most of the time.

At no point did Bearman cite his height, a constant disadvantage for reaching the car’s minimum weight, for lacking pace and his early run of points in Asia was a great bounceback from Haas’s unexpectedly tricky season opener.

1. Isack Hadjar FRANCE 24y/o
12th in F1    2024: 2nd in F2 (4 W, 1 P, 2 FL)   2023: 14th in F2 (1 FL), 7th in Macau GP

Photo: Red Bull

Photo: Red Bull

Unlike Antonelli and Bearman, there was an element of surprise surrounding Hadjar’s brilliance in his rookie F1 season. His superb sophomore F2 season in 2024 put him second in Formula Scout’s top 50 junior single-seater drivers of the year, and earned him an F1 seat at Racing Bulls over Red Bull’s Super Formula star Ayumu Iwasa.

As Formula Scout’s focus is on the series below F1 there is a limited understanding of just how ‘easy’ RB’s car was to drive compared to Red Bull Racing’s, and whether that contributed to the rotation of drivers between the two teams on the opposite side of the garage to Hadjar after just two rounds. But regardless of the team’s potential, Hadjar maximised his own.

He qualified 11th for his debut, while his first team-mate Tsunoda was fifth, but the next day he was holding back tears as he told media “it feels terrible” to crash out two corners into the formation lap and not even get to race.

Hadjar moved on from that embarassment quickly, qualifying seventh for the next two grands prix, the top Racing Bulls driver both times, and scored his first points. That trend continued, with 10 further points-scoring races, 17 more Q3 appearances, outqualifying his team-mate 22 times across the season and finishing ahead of them 18 times.

The highlights results-wise were Zandvoort, where Hadjar qualified fourth and claimed his team’s first podium since 2021 by finishing third, in Monaco where he started fifth and finished sixth, and Monza where he scored from 19th on the grid.

He moves to Red Bull for 2026, and F1’s technical overhaul should mean he avoids the struggles others had at the team.

NC. Taylor Barnard ENGLAND 21y/o
currently 13th in Formula E   2024-25: 4th in FE (2 P)   2024: 21st in F2 (1 W), 2nd in FRME (5 W, 4 P, 1 FL)   2023-24: 22nd in FE   2023: 10th in FIA F3 Championship (1 W), 2nd in FRME (2 W, 3 FL)

Photo: McLaren

There are a lot of reasons why Barnard deserves the number one spot on this list as the most exciting junior single-seater graduate of the last year, but arguably that graduation came in 2024.

The former protege of Nico Rosberg had a slow start to his single-seater career, and joining new team PHM Racing as a third-year Formula 4 driver in 2022 was a risk but it paid off superbly. He was runner-up to Antonelli in ADAC F4 and then FRegional Middle East at the start of 2023, before stepping up to the FIA F3 Championship with Jenzer Motorsport in the equivalent of a loan deal.

The end of that campaign featured starring drives that may have only left him 10th in the standings but put him firmly on the international map again. A McLaren test in FE set such an impression that he was then signed as reserve driver, while PHM’s pipeline also pushed him up to F2 for 2024 less than four weeks before the season began.

His first F2 points came when he won the Monaco sprint race, and he’d gained circuit experience a month prior by making his FE debut. Barnard was called up mid-event, and drove from 22nd to 14th on a track where overtaking is very difficult.

He raced for McLaren again in the Berlin double-header at the start of May, and scored in both races. In the second he charged from 18th to eighth, showing immense potential, and he qualified 14th for the first race.

By August, McLaren had decided to hand Barnard a full-time for the 2024-25 campaign. Once his future was determined, Barnard decided to end his F2 campaign four rounds early and his pre-season preparations for FE began.

The year ended with the season-opening Sao Paulo E-Prix, and despite qualifying 17th a starring drive meant Barnard broke the record for FE’s youngest ever podium finisher. The rest of the season occurred this year, and four further podiums and two poles put the 21-year-old a stellar fourth in the standings, outscoring his team-mate by over 80 points.

The post Formula Scout’s Class of 2024 appeared first on Formula Scout.

50. Abbi Pulling

New entry • Never off the podium while dominating second F1 Academy season

Photo: F1 Academy

Photo: F1 Academy

Alpine junior Pulling finally made good on her potential  as she destroyed the field in the second season of F1 Academy.

The pressure was on Pulling after a winless 2023 and she had no answer to debutant Doriane Pin’s pace in the opening round in Jeddah, where pre-season testing had also taken place. But she was gifted a maiden win in race two when Pin was penalised for remaining at racing speeds after the finish, which seemed to give Pulling a huge confidence boost that she rode for the rest of the year.

From then onwards she seemed almost unbeatable in her Rodin Motorsport-run car, claiming 10 out of what would be 13 pole positions over the remainder of the season and converting eight of those into wins. She finished all 14 races on the podium – 13 of them in the top two – and even when a strange rescheduling quirk temporarily uncrowned her as champion, she responded perfectly to put it beyond doubt once more.

F1 Academy exists under a brighter media spotlight than any other Formula 4 series but Pulling never looked to be fazed as she closed the season out.

She also returned to British F4 this year with Rodin for rounds that didn’t clash with her main programme. Results there were more modest, but she took a reversed-grid win at Brands Hatch and second to the dominant Deagen Fairclough in the opening race at Thruxton. Next year she’ll hope to impress in a British-based series once more with a deserved step up to GB3.

49. Ugo Ugochukwu

Down 19 • Macau GP win salvaged arduous FRegional campaign

Photo: Macau Grand Prix

Photo: FIA

Tall, quiet, rapid, and caught smiling after he won junior single-seaters’ most prestigious race: the Macau Grand Prix.

McLaren junior Ugochukwu primarily drove for Prema this year, but his best performances came with other, less dominant teams.

In Formula Regional Middle East, driving a Mumbai Falcons-branded entry, Ugochukwu embarked on his first campaign above F4 (having cameoed in Formula 3 in 2023) and his tally of three podiums and seventh in the standings was not too bad given he went points-free in the first two races and if the season was one race longer he could’ve jumped his team-mates in the standings.

But when Prema headed to Europe, sophomore star Rafael Camara and fellow rookie James Wharton had a clear advantage over Ugochukwu for most of the season. Team principal Rene Rosin conceded that the American’s difficulties were not all of his making: issues with two engines led to a disqualification at Paul Ricard after the team felt it had no choice but to introduce a third powerplant, and he was only able to salvage his campaign by winning from pole in the final round at Monza.

A third of the way into the season he was 16th in the standings while Camara topped the table, and 40% of Ugochukwu’s total points tally came at Monza.

He had already proven race-winning capabilities at the FRegional level earlier in the year though, contesting three GB3 rounds with Rodin and claiming three podiums. He retired while fighting for third in his final race at Spa-Francorchamps, and prior to that his average finishing position had been 3.7.

For the FRegional World Cup-awarding Macau GP in November he joined R-ace GP, and he took pole, won the qualification race then after some restart antics led lights-to-flag in the main race around the trickiest of circuits. He keeps faith with Prema though for his step up to FIA F3 for 2025.

48. Tymek Kucharczyk

New entry • GB3 title contender amid funding uncertainty

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Kucharczyk had shown flashes of great speed when he arrived in GB3 with Douglas Motorsport in 2023 without achieving the results to show for it. Securing a seat with Hitech GP for 2024 would allow him to put that right.

Indeed, he led what would be a three-way title fight in the early part of the season, setting the qualifying pace at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps and coming away with three poles and three wins from the two consecutive race weekends. He had the pace at the Hungaroring too, but an exclusion for a technical infringement and a further non-score cost him the points lead.

He bounced back strongly at another continental venue, Zandvoort, with his fourth win allowing him to reclaim the advantage. By now, however, he had been forced to tape over the logos of main backer Orlen on his racesuit as the Polish oil giant cut back its motorsport sponsorships. His win in the Dutch dunes would prove to be his last and his form wasn’t quite the same over the three British rounds that ended the season, as he slipped to third in the points.

While John Bennett, who beat Kucharczyk to second in the standings, makes the leap to Formula 2, Kucharczyk’s future remains uncertain but he would surely deserve to join champion Louis Sharp in stepping up to FIA F3.

47. Taito Kato

New entry • Honda-backed rookie triumphed in tight French F4 fight 

Photo: KSP

Photo: KSP

Kato emulated Ayumu Iwasa by arriving in French F4 with Honda backing and claiming the championship at the first attempt. But while Iwasa had already celebrated his 19th birthday by the time his COVID-delayed 2020 season had concluded, Kato was still only 16 when he clinched his title.

Just as Iwasa had taken on and defeated a second-year French F4 racer in Isack Hadjar, Kato faced more experienced competition in Belgian series sophomore Yani Stevenheydens, who seemed to have the edge on outright speed with eight pole positions across the year to Kato’s four. French rookie Jules Caranta made it a three-way battle, racing to four ‘feature race’ victories despite no poles, and doing enough to land Red Bull junior status.

All three had four wins to their name going into the final round but it was Kato that would claim a crucial fifth in controversial fashion, with a pass on Stevenheydens that was initially penalised post-race for taking place off track but successfully appealed. Once the pair clashed again in race three and Stevenheydens was penalised, Kato wound up as champion.

Having Honda legend Takuma Sato in his corner was invaluable for Kato, but to find success so soon in Europe demonstrates his potential, which he will continue to develop in a French environment by joining ART Grand Prix in FRegional.

46. Jack Beeton

New entry • Second-best to supreme Slater in Italian F4

Photo: ACI Sport

Photo: ACI Sport

He may have been on the podium in close to half of the races in Italian F4 this year (10 out of 21), but that didn’t make him a regular victory contender due to the domination of Prema’s Freddie Slater.

Taking that sample of races, Beeton was on average (at the end of green-flag running in those races due to some ending behind the safety car) only 1.4 seconds off the lead so when he and US Racing were competitive he wasn’t being gapped by the dominant champion.

But Beeton also non-scored in a third of the races, so only just secured second in the standings against two drivers who were not podium contenders at as many circuits as he was.

He was a two-time podium-finisher in F4 United Arab Emirates, albeit with the AGI Sport team he won the 2023 F4 South East Asia title with, but with US Racing he was only able to take one podium in Italian F4’s sister series Euro 4.

In Formula Winter Series, which takes place in Spain, he took home three trophies from his first appearance at Motorland Aragon but was down the order in his second outing at Barcelona as his team was mostly off the pace.

Switching to Prema for the step up to FRegional next year will answer more questions about Beeton’s abilities given he has over 20 podiums but only three wins from 99 races in F4.

45. John Bennett

New entry • GB3 runner-up then shone after shock F2 step

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

2024 provided quite a turnaround in the career of Bennett, with a third year spent in GB3 ultimately yielding second place in the championship and an unexpected step up to F2.

After a promising first season of single-seaters in 2022 with Elite Motorsport was followed by a tough second campaign with Rodin Carlin – falling from eight to 10th in the standings – he joined JHR Developments for 2024 and made an immediate impression. After following the eventual champion Sharp home in the first race of the season at Oulton Park, he pulled off a bold pass around the outside of his rival in the treacherous conditions of race two to score a long-awaited maiden win.

He remained a consistent threat through GB3’s leg of races abroad, scoring another win at Zandvoort and one more next time out at Silverstone meant he closed to within four points of the lead. He wasn’t able to match Sharp’s form through the final two rounds, but did at least take the fight down to the wire.

Bennett’s career – which began with two years in the humble Ginetta GT5 Challenge – also took in series outside of Britain for the first time in 2024. His FRME campaign with Evans GP yielded only one point but did lead to a FREC outing at Zandvoort, where he qualified a strong sixth in his group.

Later came FIA F3 testing with Van Amersfoort Racing, which in turn led to him being called up for two F2 rounds with the team. He remarkably raced to 12th and then eighth in his first two races at Losail, and has secured the seat full-time for 2025.

44. Keanu Al Azhari

New entry • Fought for F4 titles in UAE and Spain

Photo: Spanish F4

Photo: Spanish F4

Category sophomore Al Azhari’s ability to fight for the title in two competitive F4 championships made for a very impressive 2024, albeit being another driver in the shadow of Slater in the UAE and losing out to a rookie in Spanish F4.

His winning form on home soil made it less of a surprise when he was then a podium regular in Europe, and he won seven races in total.

In F4 UAE he utilised the local experience of the Yas Heat Academy team, taking three poles out of four at the team’s home circuit in rounds one and two. Those were converted into two second places then a 10th place and a win in round two, but he took a reversed-grid win thanks to an opening lap charge that weekend too.

At Dubai Autodrome he claimed two podiums, and on the return to Yas Marina Circuit snatched the points lead from Slater, but in the Dubai finale qualified poorly and got a drive-through penalty in race one. Finishing fifth in race two actually grew his lead, but he came out of some scrappy racing in the decider with an eighth place finish and third in the standings.

Next were two FWinter Series outings with MP Motorsport, and in the first he converted a double pole into a win and a second place. An underwhelming Barcelona weekend still lifted him to seventh in the points table.

That was a warm-up for his full Spanish F4 season with MP, in which he was on the podium at every round and only once had a two-race spell of being podium-free. His consistency, with his wins and poles coming at three different tracks, meant once he claimed the points lead in the fifth race of the year he held it for 15 races and only lost it at the penultimate race as Barcelona again proved a weak point despite taking two podiums from the title-deciding weekend.

Al Azhari will pit himself against new rivals in 2025, and on new circuits, by heading to GB3.

43. Syun Koide

New entry • Honda junior sets up Super Formula graduation with Lights success

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Koide is on the cusp of a promotion to Super Formula with B-MAX Racing, the team he won the Super Formula Lights title with.

The third-tier series uses the same car as Euroformula and is an alternative option for drivers who cannot afford to race in FIA F3 but actually operates more like F2 in that it acts as a proving ground for drivers targeting seats at single-seaters’ top level in Japan.

Now 25, Koide started his car racing career later than most who target open-wheel success as he was already in his 20s. But he impressed enough during an incomplete rookie Japanese F4 season to become a Honda junior from 2021 onwards, and he followed up one win in the championship that year with nine and the title in 2022.

Four victories for the one-car Toda Racing outfit in his rookie SF Lights campaign earned him his place at the crack B-MAX outfit for 2024 and he absolutely made the most of it with victories at every round bar one, six poles and a near-repeat of his 2023 efforts at Okayama when he went unbeaten. This time he won twice and took a second place on a wet track in race two.

Rain is a common challenge for drivers on the Japanese racing scene, and Koide proved more than capable of pulling off passes in tricky conditions between safety car interruptions. There was plenty of talent and experience on this year’s grid, and Koide convincingly became champion.

42. Max Garcia

New entry • Winning start to USF2000 season aged 14 set up title success

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Garcia was only 14 when the USF2000 season began in St. Petersburg, but any age concerns were shaken off by two poles that he converted into two wins and the points lead on a circuit he was too young to drive as a rookie in 2023.

In race one he made an error on the rolling start, but after a caution period looked impressive when pressuring drivers and pulled off moves that brought him back to the front of the field. He also lost the lead at the start of race two, but again found a way to reclaim first place.

The points lead remained in Garcia’s hands all the way to the end of the season, but it was more the inconsistency of his rivals rather than his own form that led to him becoming champion by 73 points, the equivalent of two wins and an eighth place.

A win at NOLA Motorsports Park (having now turned 15) was followed by two poles and a podium, and at Indianapolis Motor Speedway he won from sixth on the grid. Seventh place in USF2000’s only oval race followed, then another pole at Road America but no podiums. In the Mid-Ohio triple-header there was a single podium while his rivals picked up the poles and wins, but he was the weekend’s second-highest scorer.

Garcia led a Pabst Racing one-two in qualifying for race one on the streets of Toronto, and was 0.1846 seconds short of doing the double. But after leading the first half of race one he messed up a restart and finished third, with a fourth place following in race two. Again, he was the second-highest scorer though.

In the Portland finale the single-seater sophomore returned to winning ways, starting off with taking pole by just 0.0746s in a dry qualifying session. But a drive-through penalty for corner cutting in a sodden race one meant he had to charge up the field to earn second place. He then had to work hard from fourth on the grid to win race two, a result that sealed the title, and was runner-up in race three.

His scholarship prize for being champion will be spent on a step up to USF Pro 2000 with Pabst.

41. Max Taylor

New entry • USF Juniors champion fought for USF2000 title too

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Velocity Racing Development loyalist Taylor reaped the rewards of contesting three different series this year, just as he did as a car racing rookie in 2023.

Last year he won in USF Juniors, cameoed in United States F4 and had a best finish of sixth from a part-time USF2000 campaign, then for 2024 he did USF2000 and its immediate support series in full with a GB3 outing – also with VRD – on the side.

It actually took a while for Taylor to win in IndyCar’s support series, and swapping between two very similar but slightly different cars between weekends was as difficult as having to do the same thing on the three weekends where he could have a window as short as half an hour between hopping out of one car and being ready to drive the other.

But once it all clicked in USF Juniors, it truly clicked, and when he visited circuits in USF2000 he had already raced on in 2023 that experience in the bank also pushed him into race-winning form.

In the second half of the USF2000 season he won three races, took a second place, a pole position and secured third in the standings, while in the slightly slower USF Juniors machinery he had two victories, three other podiums, three poles and went from being two points behind in the title fight to winning the title.

That earned him a scholarship to spend on USF2000 for 2025, but instead he will move another step up the latter to USF Pro 2000 with VRD.

The post Formula Scout Top 50 Drivers of 2024: 50-41 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Haas F1 Team

Formula 2 teammates Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Ollie Bearman will both take part in the Super Formula rookie test at Suzuka this week ahead of graduating to Formula 1.

The test is a chance for both drivers to gain their first experience of the Suzuka track ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, which hosts the third round of the 2025 F1 season next April.

Both will take part in the third and final day of the test on Friday. Bearman will drive for KCMG in the car raced this year by Kamui Kobayashi, while Antonelli will test for Rookie Racing in place of Kazuya Oshima.

Antonelli will arrive at the test directly from driving for Mercedes in the young driver test in Abu Dhabi. Bearman’s chance to drive for Haas in the same test was scuppered when he made his third stand-in grand prix start in Brazil, rendering him ineligible, with new teammate Esteban Ocon driving in the parallel tyre test.

Juan Manuel Correa is also among the rookie testers after bringing an early end to his F2 campaign with DAMS. He will test on Thursday for Kondo Racing, while James Hedley – who contested the FIA Formula 3 round in Monaco with Jenzer Motorsport alongside selected outings in GB3 – will drive the team’s sister car on both Thursday and Friday.

The majority of the other rookies are names from the Japanese racing scene. Super Formula Lights champion Syun Koide will drive the full three-day test in B-Max Racing’s car ahead of an anticipated step up to the series for next year, replacing Iori Kimura.

SFL runner-up Rikuto Kobayashi will test on the final day for TOM’S, taking over from SF champion Sho Tsuboi. Sacha Fenestraz will drive the team’s other car ahead of an expected return to Japan following a stint in Formula E.

Seita Nonaka, who came third in SFL, tests Bearman’s KCMG car on Thursday. Kaylen Frederick, who switched from FIA F3 to SFL this year and finished fifth in the points, had been announced as taking part in the test but will no longer participate.

Former W Series driver and 2022 Formula Regional Japan champion Miki Koyama will test alongside Bearman at KCMG on Friday. Kazuhisa Urabe, who came 11th in Japanese F4 and contested two FRJC rounds with Toyota support will test for the INGING team on the same day next to Yuui Tsutsumi, who contested four SFL rounds last year alongside racing in Super GT’s secondary GT300 class.

Ex-Red Bull junior and Toyota Racing Series champion Igor Fraga, who came fourth in SFL last year, will do the full test for Nakajima Racing, where he’ll be joined on the last day by former FRJC racer Riki Okusa. Also considered a rookie is Nissan GT ace and 2017 Japanese F3 champion Mitsunori Takaboshi, who does the full test for Team Impul, where former F3 racer turned World Endurance Championship hypercar driver Oliver Rasmussen will also drive two days.

The post Antonelli and Bearman to take part in Super Formula test at Suzuka appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Syun Koide clinched the Super Formula Lights title with victory in the first race of the final round at Motegi, which he ended with an eighth win of the year.

Leading by Seita Nonaka by nine points and both Rikuto Kobayashi and Jin Nakamura by 23 points coming into the weekend, B-MAX Racing driver Koide topped qualifying for race one by 0.076 seconds ahead of Kobayashi.

While Nakamura had to make do with seventh, Nonaka was only 11th after suffering an electrical issue, and those problems would prevent him from even making the grid for the first race.

Koide made a good getaway and led Kobayashi by half a second after the first lap. It was only halfway through the 20-lap encounter that he grew his gap over one second, but the victory was enough to put him 20 points ahead of Nonaka – who got out on track for one installation lap – and thus be crowned champion.

Rin Arakawa, returning for this round in place of Master’s Cup driver Makoto Fujiwara in the B-MAX line-up, finished a distant third to complete the podium after holding off Souta Arao and Nakamura.

For race two, Koide took pole by the much larger margin of 0.632s over Kobayashi. The pair made an even start this time, going into the first corner side-by-side. Koide emerged managing to hold the lead, but Kobayashi fought back later in the opening lap to get ahead.

From there, Kobayashi managed to grow his advantage to more than a second in the first half of the race, while TOM’S team-mate Nakamura put Koide under more intense pressure.

Koide responded in the second half but Kobayashi ultimately clinched his third win of the season by 1.5s.

Arakawa slipped back from third to sixth on the opening lap, finishing behind Kaylen Frederick and Arao, while Nonaka was eighth.

In the final race of the season, Koide kept the lead from pole ahead of Kobayashi, while Yuga Furutani shot from seventh on the grid to win third in a battle with Arakawa through the opening turns. Nonaka meanwhile gained seventh places on lap one to run sixth.

Frederick got wide and crashed into the barriers exiting the final turn on lap four, triggering a safety car.

After the restart, Koide quickly re-established his lead, winning with a margin of 2s at the flag.

Second place for Kobayashi however was enough for him to clinch the same position in the final standings at the expense of Nonaka, who was unable to make further progress from sixth on a track where overtaking proved difficult beyond the first lap.

Results round-up
Race 1 (20 laps)
1 Syun Koide B-MAX Racing 35m11.029s
2 Rikuto Kobayashi TOM’S +1.146s
3 Rin Arakawa B-MAX Racing +10.548
4 Souta Arao Toda Racing +10.988s
5 Jin Nakamura TOM’S +11.661s
6 Kaylen Frederick B-MAX Racing +19.036s
7 Yuga Furutani TOM’S +20.515s
8 Reimei Ito LM Corsa +26.852s
9 Togo Suganami JMS Racing Team +27.535s
10 Tsubasa Iriyama Albirex Raicng Team +35.815s
Pole: Koide, 1m42.779s
Fastest lap: Kobayashi, 1m44.762s

Race 2 (14 laps)
1 Kobayashi 24m35.437s
2 Koide +1.553s
3 Nakamura +2.850s
4 Frederick +9.543s
5 Arao +10.114s
6 Arakawa +13.247s
7 Furutani +14.163s
8 Seita Nonaka TOM’S +14.986s
9 Suganami +17.868s
10 Ito +21.580s
P: Koide, 1m42.613s
FL: Kobayashi, 1m44.514s

Race 3 (14 laps)
1 Koide 29m15.302s
2 Kobayashi +2.020s
3 Furutani +3.114s
4 Arakawa +6.530s
5 Nakamura +7.164s
6 Nonaka +7.783s
7 Arao +8.350s
8 Suganami +10.411s
9 Ito +13.280s
10 Iriyama +15.007s
FL: Koide, 1m44.996s

Championship standings
1 Koide 114   2 Kobayashi 86   3 Nonaka 77   4 Nakamura 71   5 Frederick 46   6 Arakawa 44   7 Arao 43   8 Furutani 34   9 Ito 1   10 Nobuhiro Imada 0

The post Koide seals Super Formula Lights title in convincing fashion appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Syun Koide extended his Super Formula Lights points lead at Okayama.

Koide was quickest in practice, setting a 1m22.765s in FP2 to lead B-MAX Racing team-mate Kaylen Frederick by 0.356 seconds in the combined classification from the three sessions.

Qualifying played out in a similar fashion, with a 1m21.671s in Q1 earning Koide his third pole of the season by a sizeable 0.68s. Frederick pipped TOM’S driver Rikuto Kobayashi to second by 0.084s, and his team-mate Seita Nonaka was 1.075s back in fourth.

Q2 was a slower session, which Koide also ended up on top on. He set a 1m22.122s on his final lap, beating Frederick by 0.261s. Kobayashi was 0.396s off pole in third, and team-mate Yuga Furutani was fourth fastest.

Koide dominated race one, winning the 25-lap encounter by five seconds while Frederick spent the first half of it running in second with Kobayashi in his mirrors but never actually close enough to pressure him for position.

After lap one there was no overtaking in the top 10, although there was a change of position on lap 12 as B-MAX Racing’s Rin Arakawa retired from sixth place. The safety car appeared two laps later, then released the field on lap 16.

The gaps opened up again, although when Kobayahi went wide exiting the last corner on lap 17 he caused the field to briefly bunch up behind him. It took a few laps to get back into Frederick’s mirrors, where he remained for the rest of the race.

Race two took place on a wet track, and there was lots of wheelspin off the line. Frederick pushed hard on lap one and was able to pass Koide just before the safety car was summoned due to two drivers retiring. Nonaka also passed Furutani for fourth before racing was neutralised.

Racing resumed on lap five, and Nonaka made a diving move on Kobayashi mid-lap but ended up punting him out and sending his own car into the gravel. He could not rejoin, and the safety car returned.

The next restart was on lap nine, and Frederick sprinted away on the slippy track surface. On lap 13 of 17, Koide began closing back in on Frederick and was right on his tail a lap later. Meanwhile Toda Racing’s Souta Arao passed OTG Motor Sports’ Reimei Ito for fifth.

Frederick lapped up the pressure to hold off Koide by 1.19s for his first SF Lights win.

Koide started on pole for race three, by which point a dry line has formed, and won again.

Nonaka came under immense pressure for fourth on lap one, as Arao passed Nakamura for fifth. Furutani lost ground on lap two, dropping from seventh to ninth.

Kobayashi kept Frederick’s runner-up spot in his sights, but the pair had no answer to Koide who romped to a sixth victory of 2024 by 5.27s.

The field bunched up behind Frederick late on, and he locked up under pressure, but nobody changed position.

Results round-up
Race 1 (25 laps)
1 Syun Koide B-MAX Racing 37m35.403s
2 Kaylen Frederick B-MAX Racing +5.034s
3 Rikuto Kobayashi TOM’S +5.792s
4 Seita Nonaka TOM’S +8.669s
5 Jin Nakamura TOM’S +9.539s
6 Souta Arao Toda Racing +10.657s
7 Yuga Furutani TOM’S +12.353s
8 Reimei Ito OTG Motor Sports +14.354s
9 “Dragon” B-MAX Racing +42.645s
10 Makoto Fujiwara B-MAX Racing +49.346s
Pole: Koide, 1m21.671s
Fastest lap: Koide, 1m24.035s

Race 2 (17 laps)
1 Frederick 30m05.835s
2 Koide +1.190s
3 Furutani +5.044s
4 Nakamura +7.282s
5 Arao +8.303s
6 Ito +2.535s
7 Rin Arakawa B-MAX Racing +12.401s
8 “Dragon” +46.797s
9 Fujiwara +1m07.410s
Ret Kobayashi
P: Koide, 1m22.122s
FL: Arao, 1m23.718s

Race 3 (18 laps)
1 Koide 25m39.671s
2 Frederick +5.270s
3 Kobayashi +5.963s
4 Nonaka +7.362s
5 Arao +7.988s
6 Nakamura +10.636s
7 Ito +11.743s
8 Arakawa +15.308s
9 Furutani +28.684s
10 “Dragon” +51.351s
FL: Koide, 1m24.658s

Championship standings
1 Koide 87   2 Nonaka 54   3 Nakamura 48   4 Frederick 43   5 Kobayashi 43   6 Arakawa 34   7 Arao 23   8 Furutani 23   9 Ito 1   10 Dragon 0

The post Syun Koide grows Super Formula Lights lead with two wins at Okayama appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Syun Koide and Rikuto Kobayashi were the winners in round three of the Super Formula Lights season at Fuji Speedway.

The 12-car field got four practice sessions at the start of the weekend, with Toda Racing’s Souta Arao leading the way with a 1m33.479s lap. TOM’S driver Kobayashi was 0.135 seconds behind in second place, with small gaps to Koide (B-MAX Racing), Yuga Furutani (TOM’S) and Jin Nakamura (TOM’S) in the next positions.

Next up were two qualifying sessions, setting the grid for races one and two. Nakamura topped the first, setting a 1m33.030s to lead Kobayashi by 0.173s. Koide was 0.214s off pole in third, with Arakawa, Furutani and Nonaka completing rows two and three.

A near identical pace was set in Q2, with Kobayashi clinching race two pole with a 1m33.055s lap. He was 0.037s faster than Nonaka, with Nakamura 0.117s off pole in third. Arao qualified fourth.

In race one it was the drivers on row two who got the best starts, with Koide immediately darting to the inside and forcing himself into the lead while Arakawa swept around the outside to get into second. After turn one he was weaving to warm up his tyres, while Koide pulled away.

He finished the 15-lap race 4.871s ahead, with Arakawa followed home by a train of cars that could never quite get close enough to each other to attempt any wheel-to-wheel action.

Furutani got into third early in lap one and held the position to the end, and Arao demoted poleman Nakamura to fifth midway through the opening lap. Kaylen Frederick pressured Kobayashi for sixth on lap three, and Kobayashi attacked Nakamura for fifth on the final lap.

“Dragon” and Nobuhiro Imada battled for much of the race further own the order until Imada spun.

Race two began with lots of overtaking, but Kobayashi did manage to hold onto the lead from pole. After that the order was all but settled, with Kobayashi pulling away from Nakamura to win while further back Arao held on to third ahead of Arakawa and Koide.

Nonaka pressured Frederick for sixth, and almost passed him at two different corners on lap eight of 21 before getting the move done at the start of the next lap.

Koide then ramped up his pressure on Arakawa, but on lap 14 he got caught out and Nonaka snuck past. Nonaka then started attacking Arakawa, and made a diving move for fourth on lap 17.

Race three pole went to Koide, and he immediately pulled away while battles raged behind. Nakamura spun at turn one on lap one, Furutani and Arakawa traded second place through lap two, and they were three seconds behind Koide after three laps.

He eventually won by 7.372s over Arakawa, who initially had a four-car train behind him. Nonaka made his way to the front of that and finished just behind Arakawa, but dropped further behind Koide in their title battle.

Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Syun Koide B-MAX Racing 23m42.638s
2 Rin Arakawa B-MAX Racing +4.871s
3 Yuga Furutani TOM’S +5.573s
4 Souta Arao Toda Racing +6.601s
5 Jin Nakamura TOM’S +7.896s
6 Rikuto Kobayashi TOM’S +8.150s
7 Seita Nonaka TOM’S +9.074s
8 Kaylen Frederick B-MAX Racing +18.016s
9 Makuto Fujiawara B-MAX Racing +37.950s
10 “Dragon” B-MAX Racing +44.631s
Pole: Nakamura, 1m33.030s
Fastest lap: Koide, 1m34.114s

Race 2 (21 laps)
1 Kobayashi 33m27.352s
2 Nakamura +5.127s
3 Arao +11.062s
4 Nonaka +17.355s
5 Arakawa +19.600s
6 Koide +19.929s
7 Furutani +22.016s
8 Frederick +26.366s
9 Fujiwara +50.944s
10 “Dragon” +58.758s
P: Kobayashi, 1m33.055s
FL: Kobayashi, 1m34.763s

Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Koide 23m44.142s
2 Arakawa +7.372s
3 Nonaka +7.733s
4 Furutani +9.544s
5 Kobayashi +12.610s
6 Arao +16.089s
7 Nakamura +17.217s
8 “Dragon” +37.556s
9 Nobuhiro Imada B-MAX Racing +37.557s
10 Yasuhiro Shimizu B-MAX Racing +44.140s
FL: Koide, 1m34.174s

Championship standings
1 Koide 52   2 Nonaka 46   3 Nakamura 40   4 Arakawa 35   5 Kobayashi 34   6 Furutani 18   7 Arao 17   8 Frederick 16   9 Imada 0   10 Dragon 0

The post Kobayashi and Koide share Super Formula Lights wins at Fuji Speedway appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula Lights

There were three different winners in round two of Super Formula Lights’ season at Sportsland SUGO.

The 15-car field had four hours-and-48 minute of practice running over Thursday and Friday, although Togo Suganami, Daiki Sasaki and Masami Kageyama left after Thursday’s session.

Toda Racing’s Souta Arao was fastest, setting a 1m13.378s to lead TOM’S driver Jin Nakamura by 0.139 seconds and B-MAX Racing’s Syun Koide by 0.291s. The top eight were covered by 0.812s.

Two 10-minute qualifying sessions followed on Saturday morning, and it was super close at the top in both.

Koide led B-MAX’s Kaylen Frederick and Rin Arakawa by 0.072s and 0.076s respectively in Q1, with Nakamura 0.18s behind in fourth and just 0.49s between pole and eighth place. Frederick topped Q2 by 0.012s over Nakamura, and Arao was 0.126s off pole in third.

Later on Saturday was race one, which Koide won. He leapt away at the start while Frederick came under immediate pressure. Nakamura passed Arakawa for third, and Seita Nonaka cleared Arao and Rikuto Kobayashi.

Nonaka overtook Yuga Furutani for fifth on lap two, and Koide grew his lead to a second on lap three. By lap 16 it stood at 8.9s, but over the remaining 10 laps he backed off and his gap was 4.094s at the finish.

On lap eight Kobayashi passed Arao down the pit straight but then went off at turn one and returned to the eighth place he had been occupying, and Nakamura thought about passing Frederick around turn one on lap 14 as a queue formed behind them.

A lap later he cleared Frederick before reaching the corner, and Arakawa and Nonaka did the same to Frederick down the pit straight next time by. It turned out Frederick had a rear-left puncture, and he was soon headed to the pits to retire.

After that the main action was Arao attacking Furutani for fifth, and even though the latter locked up under pressure he did not lose position.

Sunday was very wet, and race two started behind the safety car. A lap three spin for Makoto Fujiwara meant green flags did not wave until lap six, and Frederick lost the lead to Nakamura at turn three by running very wide. Nakamura sprinted away in the spray, winning the 18-lap encounter by 12.107s, with Frederick soaking up pressure from Arao until the latter went off on lap 16 and dropped behind Koide.

On the final lap Koide tried passing Frederick at Horseback Corner but was run off the track by the American, losing 20s and finishing eighth. Arao passed Frederick at the next corner to finish second, and a five-second penalty demoted Frederick to fifth.

Race one’s results set race three’s grid. Nakamura made a slow start from second and Koide then had wheelspin, so Nonaka passed both and Arakawa around the outside to lead. Furutani went for third at turn three but slid off and returned to fifth. Kobayashi passed him on lap two, then the order went unchanged and on lap seven the safety car appeared due to foggy conditions. It stayed out until the finish.

Results round-up
Race 1 (26 laps)
1 Syun Koide B-MAX Racing 33m13.506s
2 Jin Nakamura TOM’S +4.094s
3 Rin Arakawa B-MAX Racing +5.931s
4 Seita Nonaka TOM’S +6.801s
5 Yuga Furutani TOM’S +7.236s
6 Souta Arao Toda Racing +7.932s
7 Rikuto Kobayashi TOM’S +8.272s
8 Nobuhiro Imada B-MAX Racing +44.275s
9 “Dragon” B-MAX Racing +57.149s
10 Makoto Fujiwara B-MAX Racing +1m13.846s
Pole: Koide, 1m13.260s
Fastest lap: Koide, 1m14.466s

Race 2 (18 laps)
1 Nakamura 31m16.226s
2 Arao +12.107s
3 Kobayashi +13.328s
4 Arakawa +14.735s
5 Kaylen Frederick B-MAX Racing +17.893s
6 Furutani +18.377s
7 Nonaka +20.254s
8 Koide +33.195s
9 “Dragon” +51.361s
10 Imada +1m00.359s
P: Frederick, 1m13.025s
FL: Nakamura, 1m32.093s

Race 3 (16 laps)
1 Nonaka 30m27.157s
2 Koide +2.619s
3 Nakamura +3.939s
4 Arakawa +5.474s
5 Kobayashi +6.680s
6 Furutani +7.456s
7 Arao +8.024s
8 Frederick +8.368s
9 “Dragon” +17.261s
10 Imada +17.936s
FL: Nakamura, 1m32.454s

Championship standings
1 Nonaka 38   2 Koide 31   3 Nakamura 30   4 Kobayashi 20   5 Arakawa 19   6 Frederick 16   7 Furutani 10   8 Arao 8   9 Imada 0   10 “Dragon” 0

The post Koide, Nakamura and Nonaka win at Sugo in Super Formula Lights appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Super Formula Lights

Honda has confirmed in the announcement of its 2024 motorsport plans that Iori Kimura will drive for B-MAX Racing in Super Formula this year.

Kimura won the 2023 Super Formula Lights title with B-Max, and was expected off the back of that success to step up to the top level of single-seater racing in Japan. In mid-December he announced at a function with B-MAX that he would race for the team in Super Formula, and its engine supplier Honda has now confirmed that move.

Since starting his car racing career in 2016, Kimura has had a lot of success. The Russian-Japanese racer’s first programme in single-seaters was the 2019 Japanese Formula 4 season, in which he came ninth in the standings with one podium, and he returned to the championship two years later as a Honda junior. A tally of four wins and three poles put him third in the points table.

He then stepped up to the Formula 3-level SF Lights series with B-Max, taking three wins, two poles and coming third in the standings as a rookie in 2022 and an improved haul of six wins, six other podiums and five poles to become 2023 champion.

Fellow Honda junior Syun Koide came third in SF Lights last season with Toda Racing, and picked up four wins and one pole. For his sophomore campaign he will switch to B-Max, while Souta Arao takes his seat at Toda. Arao came third in French F4 in 2022 and 17th in GB3 last year as a Red Bull junior.

The Honda Formula Dream Project team and B-Max will partner up for the 2024 Japanese F4 season, and run juniors Yuto Nomura and Ryota Horachi. Nomura was a race-winner in French F4 in 2022 then switched to Japanese F4 for 2023 and came fourth in the standings with one win. Horachi raced for the Akiland Racing team in the championship last year and was ninth in the points table with three fourth places being his best finishes.

Toyota has also announced where its juniors are headed for 2024. Seita Nonaka will stay at TOM’S for his fourth season in SF Lights, and be joined by Rikuto Kobayashi and Jin Nakamura as team-mates.

Kobayashi took five wins en route to the 2023 Japanese F4 title, and Nakamura took three victories as he finished a close runner-up to him in the title fight. Both will also be racing for the apr team in Super GT’s GT300 class this year.

In Japanese F4, the Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge Racing School team will run Yuki Sano, Tokiya Suzuki, Kiyoshi Umegaki and Kazuhisa Urabe. Sano raced for the team last year and came seventh in the standings, and Urabe switches from Bionic Jack Racing who he took one victory and came eighth in the 2023 standings with.

Suzuki and Umegaki are both graduates of Japan’s karting scene, although the latter does have some European racing experience on karts.

The post Honda confirms Iori Kimura’s place on 2024 Super Formula grid appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Super Formula has revealed the full entry list for its post-season test at Suzuka on December 6-8, which includes the official rookie test for the top-tier single-seater series.

The rookie driver eligibility is under similar parameters to how Formula 1 runs its official young driver test sessions.

Making the step up from Formula 2 are champion Theo Pourchaire and his title rival Ayumu Iwasa. Sauber junior Pourchaire will do the first two days of the test with Team Impul, and is expected to moving to SF in 2024 after failing to land an F1 seat with the team that has supported his career since 2019.

Honda junior Iwasa has already secured his place on next year’s SF grid, so will be doing the full test with Team Mugen to prepare for his rookie campaign.

Kondo Racing is running two drivers with similar backstories on the final day of testing. The first is 2017 Japanese Formula 3 champion Mitsunori Takaboshi, who is now 30 years old and has a best finish of 11th from two SF starts which he made in 2020 and ’21. The other is Teppei Natori, a former Honda junior who was a Euroformula race-winner in 2019, won the 2021 title in Super Formula Lights (the successor to Japanese F3) but has not raced in single-seaters since.

Nakajima Racing will be running Riki Okusa, a Formula Regional Japanese Championship race-winner who contested the 2023 SF season finale with TGM Grand Prix, on the final day.

Alongside the F2 racers, there are two other drivers coming from a second-tier series for a taste of SF. Indy Nxt’s rookie of the year Nolan Siegel, who came third in the standings with two wins, will join B-MAX Racing for the test’s last day while Rasmus Lindh – who was 14th in the 2023 Indy Nxt standings with one podium – will drive on days two and three for TGM GP.

The other junior single-seater racers taking part all come from third-tier series.

SF Lights’ Russian-Japanese champion Iori Kimura will do the full test with B-MAX, and be joined by fellow Honda junior and SF Lights race-winner Syun Koide for the first two days, SF’s official esports ambassador Igor Fraga has been called up by Nakajima Racing for days two and three, FIA F3 race-winner David Vidales will drive for TOM’S on the final day and TGM GP has chosen to run to Juju Noda – a winner in Euroformula but relatively inexperienced on the circuits of her home country Japan – for all three days.

Junior single-seater stars at Super Formula post-season testing

The post F2 champion Pourchaire leads rookie entry list for Super Formula testing appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: SF Lights

Honda junior Syun Koide won all three Super Formula Lights races at Okayama.

Iori Kimura topped pre-event testing, a 1m23.518s putting him 0.367 seconds ahead of Koide, then from the four practice sessions it was Igor Fraga who was fastest overall. He topped FP3 with a 1m23.549s, which was 0.047s faster than Hibiki Taira’s FP4-topping time.

Next up on Saturday were two qualifying sessions, with Koide earning race one pole 0.167s over Fraga with a 1m23.952s. Seita Nonaka was a further 0.046s behind in third, and had a gap of 0.050s to Kimura in fourth.

Points leader Taira had a disastrous session, his fastest lap being over 4.6s off the pace and then being deleted due to running off-track during it. His next best, a 1m36.980s, exceeded the maximum qualifying time required to be able to race. However he was given permission to race based off his practice pace.

Q2 began not long after, and Fraga took his first pole by just 0.018s. Koide was second, and remarkably Kimura and Nonaka set identical personal bests. Kimura qualified third on dint of having set his lap first, and both were just 0.097s off pole. Taira qualified fifth, 0.397s slower than Fraga.

Race one was light on action. Koide made a strong start from pole despite some wheelspin, and Fraga held second into turn one due to having the inside line as he had a slower launch than Nonaka.

Koide gapped himself from the rest of the field, with Fraga also ending lap one with a comfortable margin behind. Third and fourth place were close, but not enough to battle each other, and most of the action in the early laps centred around Kimura as he lost places.

He eventually retired three laps from the finish after going off onto some grass while trying to pass Enzo Trulli for sixth.

Koide won by 5.37s over Fraga. Nonaka completed the podium, 14.643s behind, and David Vidales was a further 10s back as he held off Taira for fourth. Trulli got a 30s penalty for his dangerous defending, dropping him from sixth to seventh.

Aside from a lap one crash between Trulli and Vidales that sent the former into the barriers and caused a safety car period, race two was another quiet affair. Koide passed Fraga into turn one at the first attempt, and Kimura joined them in breaking away from the rest of the field after the restart.

Kimura challenged Fraga for second a few times but could not make a pass, and Koide won by 1.249s. Taira overtook Nonaka for fourth on lap one and set fastest lap late on.

Koide and Fraga shared race three’s front row, and Koide made a strong enough start to immediately cut to the inside line.

Fraga tried going around his outside later around the lap, just as a three-wide fight for third was occurring right behind him, and he then found himself under intense pressure while Koide escaped.

Scuffling between Vidales and Nonaka for third gave Fraga a slight gap, but by lap three he was already far behind Koide who took his fourth win of 2023. Vidales finished third, and Nonaka dropped down the order after his battles went wrong so Trulli finished fourth.

Results round-up
Race 1 (25 laps)
1 Syun Koide Toda Racing 35m49.596s
2 Igor Fraga B-MAX Racing +5.370s
3 Seita Nonaka TOM’S +14.643s
4 David Vidales B-MAX Racing +24.257s
5 Hibiki Taira TOM’S +24.914s
6 Yuga Furutani TOM’S +35.007s
7 Enzo Trulli TOM’S +57.579s
8 Nobuhiro Imada B-MAX Racing +1m03.699s
9 Dragon B-MAX Racing +1m04.294s
10 Takashi Hata B-MAX Racing +1m15.153s
Pole: Koide, 1m23.952s
Fastest lap: Koide, 1m25.380s

Race 2 (18 laps)
1 Koide 28m48.511s
2 Fraga +1.249s
3 Iori Kimura B-MAX Racing +8.969s
4 Taira +9.239s
5 Nonaka +13.718s
6 Furutani +15.161s
7 Vidales +22.894s
8 Dragon +30.234s
9 Imada +32.406s
10 Hata +48.116s
P: Fraga, 1m23.649s
FL: Taira, 1m24.531s

Race 3 (18 laps)
1 Koide 27m59.077s
2 Fraga +0.213s
3 Vidales +0.837s
4 Taira +1.490s
5 Trulli +1.968s
6 Kimura +4.903s
7 Furutani +5.548s
8 Imada +7.559s
9 Dragon +9.542s
10 Hata +1 lap
FL: Koide, 1m25.348s

Championship standings
1 Taira 92   2 Kimura 82   3 Koide 76   4 Fraga 47   5 Trulli 41   6 Nonaka 31   7 Suganami 21   8 Furutani 21   9 Vidales 19   10 Yuui Tsutsumi 14

The post Honda junior Koide takes three Super Formula Lights wins at Okayama appeared first on Formula Scout.