O’Sullivan: Super Formula gives closest feeling to driving an F1 car
O’Sullivan explains what it is like to drive in Super Formula after his maiden race at Suzuka
Former Williams junior Zak O’Sullivan says Super Formula’s SF23 gave him the closest feeling to driving a Formula 1 car.
O’Sullivan made those comments after a successful debut at Saturday’s opening round of the Super Formula season at Suzuka, where he finished eighth with the Toyota-powered Kondo Racing team.
The Briton has sampled a wide variety of machinery in the last few years, including Formula 2, Formula 3 and most recently Formula E.
However, he feels the Dallara-based SF23 that forms the basis of Japan’s premier single-seater series is the most similar to a grand prix car, which he had driven on no fewer than three occasions between 2022-’23.
“[It is] probably the closest feeling car I've driven to F1,” he told Crash.net.
“Power steering in a Super Formula car and very, very high downforce gives it a very similar feeling to driving an F1 car, which is really good.
“It's why you see so many drivers coming here, for preparation as well for F1, like Liam [Lawson] as of late.
“It's a very different experience. Also, the tracks you race on are very old school tracks and there are no tracks where you don't have fast corners, so it's all high speed corners, high g-forces, which as a driver is very enjoyable.”
Despite a relatively tardy start from 10th on the grid, O’Sullivan was able to finish a solid eighth in the 27-lap race at Suzuka, taking advantage of the chaos unfolding ahead of him to climb up the order.
The 20-year-old explained that driving a Super Formula car in racing conditions for the first time felt very different to his previous experiences behind the wheel in testing and practice.
“Like any high-downforce series, the dirty air is quite bad so the characteristics of the cars change a lot - when you are in a big group of cars,” he said.
“Also, right now at Suzuka, it's very cold, I think it is 3 or 4 degrees [celsius]. So with no tyre warmers, it makes the formation laps and the restarts very very difficult.
“Even the laps to the grid, we can't go flat out, otherwise we will wheel spin and crash basically.
“It's really really tricky. A completely new experience for me but I'm learning every second.”
O’Sullivan graduated to Formula 2 with ART last year and won races at Monaco and Spa, but stepped down from his seat with three rounds still remaining in the season amid funding issues.
He parted ways with Williams at the beginning of 2025.
The 20-year-old was coy when asked if he still harbours hope of racing in F1, saying: “At the moment I'm happy in Japan.
“Obviously my main focus is competing in Super Formula and doing the best job I can because even if there were a shot at F1, if I don't do well here, then I'm not going to have that shot, so the two go hand-in-hand.
“I want to win in Super Formula and do well here and if that results in something in F1, then that will be great. If not, so be it.”
