The final round of the 2025 Super Formula series — the 24th JAF Suzuka Grand Prix — was held at Suzuka Circuit (Mie Prefecture) from November 21–23. Organizers rescheduled the cancelled R10 into the Suzuka weekend, which had originally been planned as a double‑header (R11 and R12), thus creating a rare three‑race weekend.

R10 The Race

The R10 race took place on Sunday, November 23, with clear skies from early morning. The starting grid was set based on the qualifying results carried over from the originally scheduled R10, and the race was contested as a one‑off 19‑lap sprint with no mandatory tyre change.

Tadasuke Makino (#5 DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING) claimed pole, followed by Igor Omura Fraga (#65 PONOS NAKAJIMA RACING) in P2; Kakunoshin Ohta (#6) and Ayumu Iwasa (#15) occupied the second row, with Tomoki Nojiri (#16) and Ren Sato (#64) on the third row, completing a clean top‑six sweep for Honda/M‑TEC‑powered cars.

The championship has been fiercely contested through to the finale. Sho Tsuboi (#1 Toyota) leads, with Iwasa and Ohta tied for second, each 16.5 points behind him. Makino is fourth and R10 winner Nojiri fifth, 25 points adrift of the leader.

Point allocation (for reference): 1st — 20 points; 2nd — 15; 3rd — 11; 4th — 8; 5th — 6; 6th — 5; 7th — 4; 8th — 3; 9th — 2; 10th — 1. Additionally, the top three qualifiers receive 3, 2, and 1 points, respectively.

The race started at 9:50 a.m. Makino and Omura Fraga, starting from the front row, entered Turn 1 side by side. Makino squeezed Omura Fraga as he tried to force an inside move. Omura Fraga tucked the wheel a fraction earlier, snapped the car the other way and carried the outside line into Turn 2. The two cars battled hard up to the S‑curves, with Omura Fraga entering the S‑curves in the lead.

Omura Fraga immediately began running from Makino by deploying Overtake System (OTS), and extended the gap by 0.889 seconds in the opening lap. Makino also used OTS and shaved about 0.2 seconds off the gap. Omura Fraga responded with flawless cornering, soon reopened the gap to two seconds, and then gradually extended it.

The close battle between Ohta and Iwasa for third place highlighted the latter half of the race. The intra‑Honda showdown for the championship standings saw Ohta barely keep Iwasa at bay, but the two gradually fell behind from the leading pair as they became absorbed in their head-to-head battle.

In the closing stages, as Makino’s tires began to fade, Omura Fraga maintained his pace and went on to win the 19‑lap race — his maiden victory in his debut season. With Makino and Ohta finishing second and third, Honda/M‑TEC swept the podium in back‑to‑back rounds, starting with Round 11.

After R10, Tsuboi leads with 116.5 points, Makino and Ohta are tied on 107, and Iwasa has 104 — four drivers remain in title contention heading into the season finale (R12).

R12 Qualifying Sessions

Following R11 qualifying, R12 qualifying took place on Saturday, November 22, with seven Honda/M‑TEC‑powered drivers advancing to Q2. As a result, Iwasa claimed his second consecutive pole, with Nojiri second to complete TEAM MUGEN’s front‑row lockout. Sato, Ohta, Makino and Omura Fraga occupied third through sixth, giving Honda a sweep of the top six. With Tsuboi held to seventh, the prospects of Makino, Ohta and Iwasa to mount an overturning challenge for the title were significantly improved.

R12 The Race

The final round of the 2025 Super Formula series, officially titled "The 24th JAF Suzuka Grand Prix" and long regarded as a traditional season highlight, began its formation lap at 14:30 on Sunday, November 23. The race mandates a minimum of one tire change, with pit stops permitted only after the opening lap has completed. This format would later produce a major turning point in the race.

Pole sitter Iwasa got a lightning start, and third-place starter Sato produced an equally strong launch, sweeping past Nojiri, and drawing up alongside Iwasa on the outside as they entered Turn 1. Still, Iwasa held a firm inside line and refused to yield the lead. Nojiri, who had fallen back to fifth, chose to pit at the end of the opening lap, promoting Omura Fraga into fifth.

The frontrunners circulated at almost equal intervals, each watching for the right moment to pit. The first to move was Ohta, who came in at the end of Lap 6. Seeing that, leader Iwasa pitted on the following lap, temporarily putting Sato into the lead. After his tire change, Iwasa managed to rejoin the track ahead of Ohta.

On lap 11, an on‑track incident brought out the Safety Car (SC), and the cars that had been biding their time for a pit stop dove into the pits en masse. When the stops had cycled through, Iwasa remained at the front with Ohta, Sato, Makino and Omura Fraga following, and they waited behind the safety car for the race to resume.

The SC peeled off at the end of lap 14, and as Iwasa and Ohta engaged in a dead-heat duel using their OTS, third-placed Sato seized the opportunity. Tucking into Ohta’s slipstream down the straight, Sato made the pass through the S‑curve on lap 17 to move up to second. Riding that momentum, he closed in on leader Iwasa, but Iwasa held firm—keeping just under a one‑second gap to defend the lead.

As the SC ended, Omura Fraga swept past Makino to move up to fourth. Makino tried to fight back using his OTS, but Omura Fraga—having already used up his own OTS—nevertheless defended the position with clever line choices, blocking him over the next few laps and holding on.

Iwasa saved his OTS and, trading tactical moves with Sato lap after lap, ultimately crossed the line just 0.731 seconds ahead. The win — his second of the season — earned him 20 points. With points leader Tsuboi finishing eighth, Iwasa overturned the standings to be crowned series champion. Sato finished second, while Ota, plagued by late‑race vibrations, held off the charging Omura Fraga to take third. Once again — following rounds 11 and 10 — Honda/M‑TEC users lined up on the podium to bring the 2025 season to a close.