Takuma Sato
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| Takuma Sato | |
|---|---|
 Sato at an autograph session at the 2005 United States Grand Prix |
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| Nationality |  Japanese |
| Car # | 22 |
| Current team | Super Aguri F1 |
| World Championship career | |
| Races | 72 (70 starts) |
| World Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 1 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First race | 2002 Australian Grand Prix |
| Latest race | 2007 Australian Grand Prix |
| 2007 Championship position | 23rd (0 pts) |
Takuma Sato (佐藤 琢磨 Satō Takuma?, born January 28, 1977 in Tokyo) is a Japanese Formula One automobile racing driver.
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[edit] Junior Years
Unusually, Takuma (Taku) has very little racing experience in his native country. Although he began his karting career in Japan, Sato moved to England in 1998 to pursue a career in European racing. Through 1998 and 1999 he raced in Junior Formula races throughout the continent, moving to the British Formula 3 championship at the end of 1999. In 2000 and 2001 he pursued full seasons in British Formula 3, finishing third in 2000 and winning the championship in 2001, winning 16 races in the two years, plus international races at Spa-Francorchamps, Zandvoort, and Macau.
[edit] Promotion to Formula One
In 2002 Taku graduated to Formula One, aided by backing from Honda to secure a ride with Jordan. In Formula One, Sato proved to be fast but very erratic and prone to crashes, his low point being a tremendous crash at Austria which destroyed both his car and that of Nick Heidfeld, though it should be said that it was Nick Heidfeld who caused the crash. (Sato suffered a minor concussion, and was unable to leave the car for several minutes because of his legs being stuck, but recovered soon.) The season ended well however, Sato managing to finish in the points at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit, his home race.
[edit] BAR
In 2003, Sato moved to British American Racing (BAR) as a test driver, but drove the final race of the season at Suzuka in place of Jacques Villeneuve and managed to finish sixth. In 2004 Sato drove full-time for BAR and regularly challenged for the top five positions, achieving the second-ever podium finish for a Japanese driver (after Aguri Suzuki in 1990) by finishing third at the United States Grand Prix. He also achieved a commendable second place in qualifying for the European Grand Prix, behind only Michael Schumacher. His overall points tally suffered due to a series of mechanical problems, particularly with his Honda engine. The lack of engine failures experienced by his team mate, Jenson Button led to suggestions that Sato's driving style was a significant factor in causing the engine failures. Nevertheless Sato finished the 2004 season a respectable eighth (with 34 points), helping BAR to an impressive second place in the constructors championship.
He was retained by BAR-Honda for the 2005 season but the 2005 car was not as close to the front of the pack as the previous year's design, and Sato then suffered further setbacks, first with an illness that caused him to miss the Malaysian Grand Prix, then with the entire team being disqualified from the San Marino Grand Prix as well as banned from the two subsequent GPs for alleged cheating (more information at British American Racing article).
[edit] Improve or leave
Before the inaugural Grand Prix of Turkey, Sato was put on notice by BAR to improve his racing or lose his race seat. During his in-lap at the qualification for the Grand Prix of Turkey, Sato held up Williams driver Mark Webber during his single flying lap. Sato was penalized and moved to the back of the grid, eventually finishing out of the points in ninth position. The mistakes continued in subsequent races. Sato's home race in Japan, the race where he most needed a good result, was a particular low point as Sato was disqualified for causing a collision with Jarno Trulli.
At the close of the 2005 season Sato scored only a single championship point and finished a distant 24th (and last of all point scorers), whilst his team mate Jenson Button amassed 37 points, claiming 9th overall.
With BAR's announcement of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello as their drivers for 2006, Sato's F1 career appeared doomed. However, hope remained with the fledgling Super Aguri F1 team.
[edit] BAR to Super Aguri
After the 2005 season, Sato's reputation took a battering. Honda decided not to include him in the team but he grabbed hold of a lifeline with the Super Aguri team. His expectations are now very low and Sato has a chance to rebuild his career and gain more experience. Early 2006 races saw Taku comfortably outpace rookie teammate Yuji Ide, continuing the trend with Ide's successors; Franck Montagny and Sakon Yamamoto. Critics have also noted that there have been fewer signs of the erratic driving, which has previously blighted his driving. Although his erratic drives were few and far between, there was still the occasional ragged race such as his tangle with Tiago Monteiro at the USGP, and the Chinese GP where Sato held up Heidfeld leading to his disqualification. Sato went on with an impressive run to tenth at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix, ahead of his team-mate Yamamoto, Robert Doornbos' Red Bull, both Scuderia Toro Rossos and both Spykers.
[edit] Complete Formula One results
(key)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Takuma Sato's official website
- Takuma Sato's profile and statistics
- Takuma Sato career statistics
- Takuma Sato F1 statistics
| Preceded by Antônio Pizzonia |
British F3 Champion 2001 |
Succeeded by Robbie Kerr |
| Preceded by André Couto |
Macau GP winner 2001 |
Succeeded by Tristan Gommendy |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLaren | Renault | Ferrari | Honda | BMW | Toyota | Red Bull | Williams | Toro Rosso | Spyker | Super Aguri |
| 1 Alonso 2 Hamilton |
3 Fisichella 4 Kovalainen |
5 Massa 6 Räikkönen |
7 Button 8 Barrichello |
9 Heidfeld 10 Kubica |
11 Schumacher 12 Trulli |
14 Coulthard 15 Webber |
16 Rosberg 17 Wurz |
18 Liuzzi 19 Speed |
20 Sutil 21 Albers |
22 Sato 23 Davidson |
| Super Aguri F1 |
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Personnel: |
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Current drivers: |
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Formula One cars: SA05 | SA06 | SA07 |
