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.