Written by Gabriel Tsui, Edited by Tarun Suresh
In the year 2018, a YouTube video titled “This 11-year-old Racing Prodigy is Breaking Records” appeared, and it took the motorsport world by storm. It told the story of an 11-year-old girl from Japan, who took a Formula 3 car to testing, with Formula 1 and championship aspirations.
Juju Noda, the daughter of Hideki Noda, formerly a Formula 1 driver, was the star of the video. She had been participating and dominating in local karting ever since she was three years old and has been testing single-seaters ever since she was nine years old.
In 2020, Juju made her first appearance in single-seater racing, participating in the Danish Formula 4 championship, one of the few series that allow 14-year-olds to participate. She was able to secure pole positions in all three race weekends, converted one race win in the opening round, but ultimately finished sixth in the standings.
She secured a ride in the USF4 with Jay Howard Development for 2021 and had a great practice session in her first race in Road Atlanta. However, she withdrew from the race, and soon after, the tournament entirely for unknown reasons. She made a last-minute return to Danish F4, and finished seventh in the standings, albeit missing two races.
The 2022 season launched Juju into the international spotlight, as she was selected as one of the W Series Academy drivers. She ended the season in 14th place while going head-to-head against drivers who had multiple seasons in the series. Compared to fellow rookie Bianca Bustamante, Juju had the same points yet better qualifying performance, proving her talents and abilities.
She was promised a two-year ride with W Series Academy, but financial problems led to the series being consolidated and replaced by F1 Academy before the 2023 season. She participated in multiple semi-professional series such as the F2000 Italian and Drexler Cup, where she performed above expectations.
Noda also participated in the Euroformula Open, where a series of controversies led to her team withdrawing mid-season. There was a rule that allowed women drivers to be up to 20 kilograms underweight, a huge advantage that led the rule-makers to abolish the rule completely after Paul Ricard, where Juju won a race during the weekend.
In a statement Hideki put out on social media, he accused the other teams and the rule-makers of politics and stated that the team was a tiny family-run team that had no backing or support, making them an easy target of other teams’ political motives.
While on one hand, I absolutely agree that making rule changes mid-season is indeed a politically motivated action that only happened on the grounds that the other team protested, and the late announcement certainly strained their ability to get ready before going into Red Bull Ring.
However, why not let Juju race others in the equal machinery and prove her worth in the rest of the season? Heading into Paul Ricard, Team Noda’s weight advantage was already cut by 15 kilograms, and she still won a race even with the sudden changes.
Letting quote-unquote politics get in the way of developing a driver is still a head-scratching decision for me, and in my opinion, stops Juju from showing her true strengths in a semi-respectable series that actually carries weight in terms of super licence points.
He has also hindered Juju’s growth on many other occasions, such as opting to let Juju compete in fringe series for amateur/leisure drivers such as BOSS GP, F2000 Italian, etc. instead of major European/Japanese junior series, slowly exposing her to better competition.
This season, he went into the opposite end of the spectrum, allowing Juju to make the jump to Super Formula, joining TGM Grand Prix as the first Japanese woman to race in Super Formula. She had a slightly promising post-season testing at the end of 2023, being able to keep up with the top drivers, staying within the 107%.
However, in the pre-season testing, she had an abysmal performance. Not only did she crash twice during the rainy conditions, but she was 11 seconds behind the top car in one of the testing sessions. Even though she was able to get back within the 107% limit during dry conditions, she was still multiple seconds behind the leader, the slowest among all drivers.
In her first couple of races, her performances thoroughly showed that she lacked experience in the Japanese racing system, unable to warm up her tyres for qualifying, and consistently being behind by a second or more per lap during the race when compared to her opponents.
One thing that sports in general that is generally true, is that punching above your weight is generally not a good idea. In some cases, it works out perfectly, but that is an exception, not the rule. There are progression systems for a reason, and completely ignoring them will lead to painful learning lessons.
While obviously, when a Super Formula opportunity comes along, most would take it in a heartbeat.
However, driving in Super Formula Lights would certainly be a better choice for development’s sake, and for her to adapt to the pacing and rules of Super Formula with a car that she is familiar, before actually taking the next step into a series that adopts a car even faster than the likes of Formula 2 and INDYCAR.
What is undeniable is that Hideki has done an amazing job promoting Juju as a national phenomenon, with droves of fans attending the race to watch and support her. Her popularity in Japan is absolutely soaring through the roof, while her performances haven’t done much to justify it.
And that precisely, ladies and gentlemen, is the problem: Performances. She has never produced high-level results in a respectable junior racing series, with her highest level of competition prior to 2024 being W Series or Euroformula.
That isn’t to say she is a poor driver. Far from that. While driving in low-tier series certainly isn’t the biggest challenge for Juju, to be able to win in these series as a teenager isn’t something to be completely disregarded, as she is going up against very experienced drivers, who competed in those series for multiple years.
At the same time, she was racing for the family-run team that certainly doesn’t have the major resources and experiences other teams have. To achieve a successful season under these circumstances, it takes incredible skill and talent.
However, to go from low/mid-tier amateur racing to the second fastest racing series in the world is similar to going from Formula 4 to Formula 1 immediately. It is unprecedented, and it will most certainly hurt the driver’s development.
That is why I believe Juju needs to take control of her career and make decisions that are best for her motorsport career.
I believe that Hideki did not make career choices that favour Juju in terms of her development as a driver. He made mostly business choices, picking amateur/junior series that don't necessarily have a decent level of competition as a way to get easy wins, so they could get media coverage and sponsorship opportunities.
For all the information we currently have, how he handled the Euroformula situation was extremely puzzling.
Even if the organisers lied to their faces about no more rule changes, even if the organisers folded like a chair when they came under political pressure, even if they didn’t have time to get ready for the Red Bull Ring weekend, they could still continue to participate in the series, and let the driving do the talking.
The shocking jump to Super Formula, skipping Super Formula Lights entirely, is the worst of them all. Through four races, Juju has been overwhelmed by the intensity of the series, finishing last in every race except in Sugo, a rain-shortened race where she was only ahead of her teammate.
Her team hasn’t been amazing either, making pitstop errors and have had set up problems that ultimately affected her performances.
It is also worth noting, however, that she has been adjusting to the series, inching closer to the top drivers in both qualifying performances and lap splits. I might eat my words as Juju goes on a comeback tour, flipping the entire narrative in the second half of the Super Formula season, while Hideki looks like an absolute genius, but that is highly unlikely.
Juju’s best years are still way ahead of her, and she definitely still has a chance to make it to Formula 1. At the end of the day, she must take matters into her own hands and make her own decisions, because even with years of experience being a bottom feeder, I don’t think Hideki realises that being a bottom feeder in a bottom feeder team while racing in an ultra-competitive championship is not the best way to nurture a talent.
Whether choosing to take it down a notch for 2025 and make a run at Super Formula Lights in hopes of securing a seat with a better team such as Team Mugen in 2026, or doubling down with TGM and praying for a miracle that the inexperienced team can find their way to success, she should be the one calling the shots.
In conclusion, I believe Hideki made questionable decisions throughout Juju’s journey as a racing driver, from racing in fringe series to a significant jump to Super Formula, decisions that made a lot of fans and analysts question his ability as a talent developer.
If Juju wants to become the first female driver to start in a Formula 1 race since Maria Lombardi, it’s time to take the driver’s seat (figuratively and literally) and make her own career choices before it’s too late.
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