Giuliano Alesi, son of Formula 1 star Jean Alesi, will return to Super Formula after three years, thanks to a car-sharing agreement that will link him with driver Seita Nonaka this weekend at Fuji.
The KCMG team has announced that Alesi will drive their car number 9 during Rounds 6 and 7 of the championship, while Nonaka will compete in the Sunday morning race, which will replace the canceled round at Autopolis.
KCMG is obligated to have Nonaka race in the sprint event as he qualified the car at Autopolis. However, Nonaka is expected to have little track time with the vehicle before the competition, as KCMG will prioritize Alesi’s time to facilitate his return.
After the races in Fuji, Alesi will take the seat that was supposed to be taken by Kalle Rovanpera, who withdrew for health reasons. Alesi’s appearance in Fuji will mark his return to competition, after having been dropped by TOM’S in the middle of the 2023 season.
The French driver surprised the motorsport world by winning at Autopolis in his second race in 2021, but since then his best finish has been an eighth place.
After losing his spot at TOM’S, Alesi has mainly competed in SUPER GT, and has collaborated with Rookie Racing to win the Super Taikyu championship in 2024. Recently, he has also participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.
On his part, Nonaka achieved a best result of 17th place in four races of 2026 and will start in 15th position in the replacement race due to the qualifying results from Autopolis. The 2021 Japanese F4 champion scored points in Motegi last year, substituting for Kamui Kobayashi, but has not been able to score points in seven races for TGM Grand Prix, before returning to KCMG as a reserve driver for the rest of the season.
KCMG, so far, has only achieved a seventh place as the best result of this year, accomplished by Kenta Yamashita in the second week of racing at Motegi.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
