Nobuharu Matsushita

Nobuharu Matsushita (松下信治 in Japanese; born 13 October 1996 in Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese racing driver who completes for MP Motorsport in the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship. 2019 marked Matsushita's return to F2, having previously competed in the Championship in 2017, as well as the GP2 Series in 2015 and 2016.

Matsushita joined ART Grand Prix ahead of the 2015 GP2 Series, with backing from Honda and their Honda Formula Dream Project. The Japanese racer impressed, claiming his first GP2 Series win at the 2015 Hungaroring Sprint Race, finishing the season in ninth with 68.5 points, although teammate Stoffel Vandoorne stormed to the Championship.

ART retained Matsushita for the 2016 Season, pairing him with Sergey Sirotkin, who had challenged for the title in 2015. It proved to be a fairly similar campaign for Matsushita, with the Japanese racer scoring another win en-route to eleventh in the Championship.

Matsushita remained with ART for a third season in 2017, becoming their lead driver alongside Alexander Albon. During the 2017 campaign Matsushita would briefly entertain a title challenge, claiming two wins before he faded to sixth in the Championship hunt.

After Honda moved Matsushita into the Super Formula Championship in 2018, the Japanese racer secured a return to F2 in 2019, joining Carlin alongside Louis Delétraz. Matsushita once again entertained a title challenge with another two victories, although he would again end the season in sixth after a slow start to the season.

2020 would see Matsushita secure a move to MP Motorsport, partnering rookie Felipe Drugovich, albeit at the cost of his Honda backing.

Background
Matsushita began his career in karting, racing through the ranks in his native Japan to graduate to the Formula Pilota China series in 2011. After picking up one win Matsushita switched to the Formula Challenge Japan in 2012, and duly claimed the title with five victories. The Japanese younger then progressed to the All-Japan Formula 3 Championship in 2013, becoming a Honda Formula Dream Project member later that season.

2014 saw Matsushita sweep to the All-Japan F3 title, with Honda opting to promote the youngster to the European racing scene in 2015.

GP2/Formula Two History
Honda secured a deal for Matsushita to race in the GP2 Series in 2015, with the Japanese youngster joining ART Grand Prix for the full campaign. Partnering Stoffel Vandoorne, Matsushita had a fairly strong start to his GP2 Series career, claiming a point in the 2015 Bahrain Feature Race before claiming sixth and the fastest lap in the Sprint. However, the following two rounds in Barcelona and Monte Carlo were less impressive for Matsushita, as the Japanese racer failed to threaten the points.

ART Apprentice: 2015
Matsushita's opening weekend form return at the Red Bull Ring, as the Japanese racer battled to fourth in the Feature race, before scoring his maiden podium finish in the Sprint. Another pair of non-scores followed in Silverstone followed, before the Japanese racer scored eighth in the 2015 Hungaroring Feature Race. However, it was at the following Sprint that Matsushita showed his potential, easing to a comfortable maiden victory ahead of teammate Vandoorne.

The summer break would curtail Matsushita's hopes of building on his win, failing to finish in either of the following two Feature races in Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. The Japanese racer then returned to the points with two good races in Sochi, before claiming his first Feature race podium in the 2015 Sakhir Feature Race, finishing second to Vandoorne. The Japanese racer would, however, end the season with a poor run of results, retiring from the Sakhir Sprint, before failing to score in the 2015 Yas Marina Feature Race.

At the end of his rookie season, Matsushita had scored 68.5 points, enough for ninth in the Championship.

ART-istic Development: 2016
Matsushita was retained by ART for the 2016 GP2 Series, while Honda's Formula One partners McLaren decided to sign the Japanese racer as their development driver.

F2 Features: 2017
Matsushita saw his contract with ART renewed once again for the 2017 Season, which saw the GP2 Series be renamed as the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

A Carlin Call-up: 2019
After missing out on a season in F2 in 2018, Matsushita was given Honda's permission to return to the Championship in 2019, signing with Carlin alongside Louis Delétraz.

MP Maverick: 2020
Ahead of the 2020 Season Matsushita opted to leave the Honda Formula Dream Project, after they refused to further fund his pursuit of a seat in Formula One. The Japanese racer would, however, manage to secure a seat in F2 with MP Motorsport, partnering rookie Felipe Drugovich.

Post GP2/Formula Two Career
In 2016, Matsushita was signed as a development driver for McLaren in the FIA Formula One World Championship, courtesy of their partnership with Honda. Matsushita subsequently moved to the Super Formula Championship in his native Japan in 2018 at the behest of Honda. The Japanese racer finished eleventh in JSF, claiming a best finish of fourth, while he also raced in the Euroformula Open Championship in 2019.

Full GP2/Formula Two Record
Shown below are a series of tables outlining 's career in Formula Two in statistical form.

GP2/Formula Two Entries
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for during their GP2/F2 career:

Career Results
Below is a table showing 's full GP2/Formula Two record.


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