[10][11] Motocross turned open-wheel racer Kazuyoshi Hoshino also participated in the first two World Championship Japanese Grands Prix.

"The fastest man in Japan" retired from the 1976 race due to recurring tyre problems, before finishing 11th and two laps down in the 1977 event.

[14] In a career that spanned 5 seasons and 80 Grands Prix, he made a name for himself as a respected mid-field runner, who despite never beating his team-mates in the Drivers' Championship was known as a formidable competitor.

[17] Naoki Hattori entered two Grands Prix, the 1991 events held in Japan and Australia as a replacement for Pedro Chaves.

[22][23] Toshio Suzuki (no relation to Aguri) qualified for the Japanese and Australian rounds of the 1993 season, he finished both races outside the points.

[27] Mugen-affiliated driver Shinji Nakano made his debut with the Prost team in 1997 in return for an engine supply deal.

[29] Toranosuke Takagi was scouted by Satoru Nakajima from an early age, and was fast-tracked to a Formula One seat with Tyrrell for the 1998 season.

[42] He participated in the first 4 races of the season before having his FIA Super License revoked due to his backmarker status and a large crash he caused with Christijan Albers.

[47] He made all his 36 starts with Williams alongside fellow second-generation driver (and 2016 World Champion) Nico Rosberg, with a best result of sixth at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix.

[46][48][49] He was dropped in favour of test driver Nico Hülkenberg for the 2010 season, and was signed by new-team candidate Stefan GP, who subsequently failed to make the grid and Kazuki was left without a drive.

[50][51] Kamui Kobayashi made his debut at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix for Toyota Racing following an injury to regular driver Timo Glock.

[53] This led to the Sauber team snapping him up for the next three seasons, where he consistently finished in points-scoring positions and made his name as an aggressive midfield driver.

[58] For 2014 he was signed to the backmarker Caterham F1 alongside debutant Marcus Ericsson - and inevitably struggled with the financially inferior team.

[59] He was replaced with André Lotterer for the event in Belgium, and sat out the rounds in the United States and Brazil due to the team's financial issues.