Nobuharu Matsushita
| Nobuharu Matsushita | |
|---|---|
 Matsushita in 2015 | |
| Nationality |  Japanese |
| Born | 13 October 1993 Saitama, Japan |
| Super Formula career | |
| Debut season | 2018 |
| Current team | B-Max Racing |
| Car number | 51 |
| Former teams | Dandelion Racing |
| Starts | 14 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 3 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 11th in 2018 |
| Previous series | |
| 2017, 2019-20 2015-2016 2015-16 2013–14 2012 2011 | FIA F2 GP2 Series MRF Challenge All-Japan Formula Three Formula Challenge Japan Formula Pilota China |
| Championship titles | |
| 2014 2012 | All-Japan Formula Three Formula Challenge Japan |
Nobuharu Matsushita (松下信治, Matsushita Nobuharu, born 13 October 1993) is a Japanese racing driver currently competing in Super GT and Super Formula. He formerly competed in the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship for MP Motorsport before being replaced by current Super Formula Lights driver Giuliano Alesi.
Career[]
Karting[]
Born in Saitama, Matsushita began his racing career in karting in 2005, competing the All-Japan Junior Kart Championship. In 2008, he clinched the championship title in the Open Masters Kart ARTA Challenge. He ended his karting participations in 2010, finishing third in the KF1 category of the All Japan Kart Championship.[1]
Formula Pilota China and Formula Challenge Japan[]
In 2011, Matsushita graduated to single–seaters into the Formula Pilota China with the Super License team.[2] He missed the Ordos round, but after his returning he showed better performance than in the first part of the season. He won the final race of the season at Sepang and finished the season fourth.[3]
For 2012, he switched to the Formula Challenge Japan mono-series. He scored ten podiums in twelve races, including five wins and took the championship title.[4]
All-Japan Formula Three[]
In 2013, Matsushita stepped up to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship with the HFDP Racing.[5] He collected five podiums and another seven point-scoring finishes, to end the season on the fifth position in the series standings, it was the best result for the Honda driver.[6]
For the next season he decided to stay in the series with the same team.[7] He was victorious at Motegi, Fuji and Sugo, grabbing the championship title from Kenta Yamashita with a twelve-point gap.[8]
GP2 Series[]
Matsushita made his début in the GP2 Series in 2015 with ART Grand Prix.[9] In the first race at Bahrain, he qualified second on the grid opposite teammate Stoffel Vandoorne and finished in the points in both races, setting the fastest lap in the sprint race. At the Red Bull Ring, Matsushita took his first GP2 podium by finishing third in the sprint race. He took his first victory in the sport in the sprint race at the Hungaroring as part of an ART 1-2. He finished 9th in the overall standings.
In February 2016, it was announced Matsushita would reunite with ART for a second season, alongside fellow 2015 rookie Sergey Sirotkin.
Matsushita was suspended for the 4th round of the season in Austria due to erratic driving at the previous event in Baku.[10]
Formula One[]
On 20 February 2016, Matsushita was signed as a development driver for McLaren.[11]
Super Formula[]
In 2018, Matsushita returned to Japan to compete in Super Formula for Honda team Dandelion.
FIA Formula 2[]
In 2017, Matsushita competed in the inaugural Formula 2 championship, driving for ART Grand Prix alongside Alexander Albon. He scored his first win in the sprint race in Spain, and his second one during the sprint race in Hungary. He scored two more podiums, in Monaco and in Monza and finished sixth in the final standings, beating Albon by 45 points. Matsushita returned to Formula 2 in 2019 with the Carlin team, partnering Louis Delétraz. He won the feature races at the Red Bull Ring and in Monza. He, again, finished 6th in the championship, two positions above his teammate. He was announced to drive for MP Motorsport in the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship together with Brazilian Felipe Drugovich. Matsushita announced that he would be leaving the F2 Championship with immediate effect on 22 September 2020.[12]
Racing record[]
Career summary[]
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | FLaps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Formula Pilota China | Super License | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 89 | 4th |
| 2012 | Formula Challenge Japan | N/A | 12 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 91 | 1st |
| 2013 | Japanese Formula 3 Championship | HFDP Racing | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 43 | 5th |
| 2014 | Japanese Formula 3 Championship | HFDP Racing | 15 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 102 | 1st |
| 2015 | GP2 Series | ART Grand Prix | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 68.5 | 9th |
| 2015-16 | MRF Challenge Formula 2000 | MRF Racing | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 80 | 6th |
| 2016 | GP2 Series | ART Grand Prix | 20 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 92 | 11th |
| Formula One | McLaren F1 Team | Development driver | |||||||
| 2017 | FIA Formula 2 Championship | ART Grand Prix | 22 | 2 | 2[a] | 2 | 4 | 131 | 6th |
| Formula One | Sauber F1 Team | Development driver | |||||||
| 2018 | Super Formula | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 11th |
| 2019 | FIA Formula 2 Championship | Carlin | 22 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 144 | 6th |
| Euroformula Open Championship | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 18th | ||
| Euroformula Open Winter Series | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 4th | ||
| 2020 | FIA Formula 2 Championship | MP Motorsport | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 15th |
| Super GT - GT300 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 23rd | |
| Super Formula | Buzz Racing with B-MAX | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 15th | |
| 2021 | Super GT | Team Impul | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 6th* |
| Super Formula | B-Max Racing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 25.5 | 6th* | |
* Season still in progress.
Complete GP2 Series results[]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | ART Grand Prix | BHR FEA 10 |
BHR SPR 6 |
CAT FEA 11 |
CAT SPR 18 |
MON FEA Ret |
MON SPR 19 |
RBR FEA 4 |
RBR SPR 3 |
SIL FEA Ret |
SIL SPR 19 |
HUN FEA 8 |
HUN SPR 1 |
SPA FEA Ret |
SPA SPR 15 |
MNZ FEA Ret |
MNZ SPR 15 |
SOC FEA 10 |
SOC SPR 7 |
BHR FEA 2 |
BHR SPR Ret |
YMC FEA 11 |
YMC SPR C |
9th | 68.5 |
| 2016 | ART Grand Prix | CAT FEA 11 |
CAT SPR 8 |
MON FEA 8 |
MON SPR 1 |
BAK FEA 6 |
BAK SPR Ret |
RBR FEA EX |
RBR SPR EX |
SIL FEA 6 |
SIL SPR 5 |
HUN FEA 6 |
HUN SPR Ret |
HOC FEA 9 |
HOC SPR 12 |
SPA FEA 11 |
SPA SPR 11 |
MNZ FEA 11 |
MNZ SPR 6 |
SEP FEA Ret |
SEP SPR 7 |
YMC FEA 2 |
YMC SPR 4 |
11th | 92 |
Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results[]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | ART Grand Prix | BHR FEA 8 |
BHR SPR 14 |
CAT FEA 4 |
CAT SPR 1 |
MON FEA 3 |
MON SPR 7 |
BAK FEA 12 |
BAK SPR 6 |
RBR FEA 6 |
RBR SPR 14 |
SIL FEA 10 |
SIL SPR 8 |
HUN FEA 5 |
HUN SPR 1 |
SPA FEA 16 |
SPA SPR Ret |
MNZ FEA 2 |
MNZ SPR 7 |
JER FEA 18 |
JER SPR 11 |
YMC FEA 6 |
YMC SPR 4 |
6th | 131 | ||
| 2019 | Carlin | BHR FEA 9 |
BHR SPR 12 |
BAK FEA 13 |
BAK SPR 12 |
CAT FEA 11 |
CAT SPR Ret |
MON FEA 2 |
MON SPR 9 |
LEC FEA 9 |
LEC SPR 9 |
RBR FEA 1 |
RBR SPR 5 |
SIL FEA 9 |
SIL SPR 7 |
HUN FEA 7 |
HUN SPR 2 |
SPA FEA C |
SPA SPR C |
MNZ FEA 1 |
MNZ SPR 5 |
SOC FEA 6 |
SOC SPR Ret |
YMC FEA 2 |
YMC SPR 7 |
6th | 144 |
| 2020 | MP Motorsport | RBR FEA 9 |
RBR SPR 6 |
RBR FEA 17 |
RBR SPR 11 |
HUN FEA 12 |
HUN SPR 11 |
SIL FEA 10 |
SIL SPR 7 |
SIL FEA 11 |
SIL SPR 18 |
CAT FEA 1 |
CAT SPR 5 |
SPA FEA Ret |
SPA SPR DNS |
MNZ FEA 15 |
MNZ SPR 11 |
MUG FEA 11 |
MUG SPR 14 |
SOC FEA |
SOC SPR |
BHR FEA |
BHR SPR |
BHR FEA |
BHR SPR |
15th | 42 |
Complete Super Formula results[]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | SUZ 12 |
AUT C |
SUG 10 |
FUJ 9 |
MOT 4 |
OKA 9 |
SUZ 7 |
11th | 7 |
| 2020 | Buzz Racing with B-MAX | MOT | OKA | SUG | AUT 6 |
SUZ Ret |
SUZ 14 |
FUJ 3 |
15th | 16 |
| 2021 | B-Max Racing | FUJ | SUZ 13 |
AUT 3‡ |
SUG 4 |
MOT 3 |
MOT |
SUZ |
6th* | 25.5* |
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. * Season still in progress.
Complete Super GT results[]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX GT3 Evo | GT300 | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | MOT | FUJ | SUZ | MOT 8 |
FUJ 7 |
23rd | 7 |
| 2021 | Team Impul | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT500 | GT500 | OKA 10 |
FUJ 9 |
MOT 11 |
SUZ 6 |
SUG 1 |
AUT |
MOT |
FUJ |
6th* | 28* |
* Season still in progress.
Notes[]
References[]
- ^ "Profile" (in Japanese). nobunobuf1.wix.com. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ "Teams & drivers 2011". Formula Pilota China. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ^ "Formula Pilota China 2011 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ "Formula Challenge Japan 2012". Driver Database. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ "Honda 2013 Motorsports Overview". Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 8 February 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ "Japanese Formula 3 Championship – Championship Class 2013". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
- ^ "2014 Honda Global Motor Sports Activities Automobile[PDF]" (PDF). Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ Allen, Peter (13 October 2014). "PaddockScout Roundup: GP2/GP3 Sochi, F3/F4 Imola". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ "Honda 2015 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ "Matsushita suspended for next event". GP2 Series. GP2 Series Limited. 19 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
- ^ "Matsushita named as McLaren F1 test driver". 20 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
- ^ "https://twitter.com/nobu_mat13/status/1308335254135025665". Twitter. Retrieved 22 September 2020. External link in
|title=(help) - ^ "Formula 2 poles". results.motorsportstats.com. Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
External links[]
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Nobuharu Matsushita career summary at DriverDB.com
- 1993 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Saitama (city)
- Japanese racing drivers
- Formula Masters China drivers
- Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers
- Formula Challenge Japan drivers
- GP2 Series drivers
- MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship drivers
- FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers
- Super Formula drivers