Legendary F1 track sees race CANCELLED

The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix gets underway at Fuji as drivers head into turn one — Photo: © IMAGO

Racing News

Legendary F1 track sees race CANCELLED

Fuji was the sight of James Hunt's championship win

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 13 October 2025 08:13

A Super Formula race at a legendary F1 circuit was cancelled over the weekend, after some bizarre weather conditions.

The Fuji Motor Speedway previously hosted F1 races in 1976 - when James Hunt dramatically sealed the drivers' championship by a single point in treacherous conditions after Niki Lauda pulled out of the race - and 1977, before the Japanese Grand Prix dropped off the calendar and then eventually moved to Suzuka.

Fuji was used once again for the race in 2007 and 2008, with Lewis Hamilton winning in his rookie season, and Renault's Fernando Alonso winning the 2008 edition.

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It was then announced that Fuji and Suzuka would share the Japanese GP on a year-by-year basis, but in 2009, it was announced that F1 would not be returning to Fuji, with Toyota citing the global financial crisis as a reason why.

Toyota still to this day own the circuit, and it is used for a variety of different racing series, as well as being used for other sporting events such as the cycling events at the recent Tokyo Olympic Games.

Super Formula is one of the racing series that use the Fuji track, and a race on Sunday was meant to be taking place, but it was cancelled before the drivers had made it to the start line.

Why was Fuji Super Formula race cancelled?

Dense fog surrounded the circuit and made visibility almost impossible, leading to the cancellation of Sunday's race.

That followed Saturday's race which had been abandoned just a few laps in because of torrential rain, and no green flag running actually took place in that race either.

Red Bull junior driver Ayumu Iwasa is currently involved in a championship battle with 10 rounds now gone in the 2025 season, and he is 14.5 points behind championship leader Sho Tsuboi.

The series' president is apparently considering a replacement round in the series to take place either in Fuji or Suzuka.

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