Takuma Sato

Name: Takuma Sato
Born: January 28, 1977 in Tokyo
Team: Super Aguri
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 130 lbs.
Hobbies: Cycling, food
Previous F1 Teams:
    * 2003 Jordan
    * 2004 - 2005 BAR
    * 2006 - 2008 Super Aguri

Victories: 0

Background:
Takuma started racing at 19, having first raced bicycles to a high level. He took lessons at the Honda racing school at the Suzuka track, there winning an F3 drive in Japan. But Takuma was part of a new generation of Japanese drivers who knew that if they were to succeed in F1, they would have to do as the other F1 drivers did, by learning how to race in Europe by taking part in the lower European series. Takuma raced in Formula Vauxhaul and Formula Opel in 1998 in England. He won races the following two years in higher levels of racing. But in 2001 he won the British F3 series with 12 victories.
His Career Thus Far:
In his first year in F1, Takuma learned the ropes at the Jordan team. He proved he was fast, but also showed a lack of judgment and accident proneness. He finished that season in 17th position in the drivers’ series, with two points.

He spent 2003 as a test driver at the BAR-Honda team. But when Jacques Villeneuve, the team’s regular driver, decided not to take part in the last race of the season, Takuma was called in to replace him. It was his home race, he knew the track well, and he had finished there in the points, in fifth, the previous season. Again Takuma finished in the points, this time in sixth position.

The following season BAR hired him as a full time driver. That year he scored the first podium finish for a Japanese driver since Aguri Suzuki, 14 years before, by finishing third at the U.S. Grand Prix. He also finished fourth twice, at the Italian Grand Prix and the Japanese Grand Prix. He qualified as high as second, and he finished the season in eighth position in the drivers' series, with 34 points. The following year, however, he finished 23rd, scoring only one point. In 2006 he joined the fledgling Super Aguri team, started by Aguri Suzuki, in part to help Sato continue his career. Unfortunately, he failed to score any points in 2006 as the team was too new and weak. In 2007, however, Super Aguri used the Honda chassis of 2006 and Sato began scoring points again, finishing eighth at the Spanish Grand Prix and sixth at the Canadian Grand Prix. He thereby out performed his British teammate, Anthony Davidson, who scored no points all season.

Driving Style:
Takuma has always been considered a fast driver with a natural talent. He has, however, often been too impulsive, and lacking in good judgment. This showed at the Nurburgring in 2004, for instance, when he made a crazy dive to pass Rubens Barrichello at the first corner and broke his own front wing.

Character:
Takuma is an articulate English speaker, having learned the language well in his apprenticeship days in England. Although he comes off as an intelligent, kind and gentle person, Takuma also has the on-track instinct to attack for position and not give way to other drivers without a fight.