Takuma Sato

Takuma "Taku" Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 琢磨, Hepburn: Satō Takuma; born 28 January 1977) is a Japanese racing driver, who competes part-time in the IndyCar Series for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato competed in Formula One from 2002 to 2008. In American open-wheel racing, Sato is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 and 2020, remaining the only Asian driver to win the event.

Born and raised in Tokyo, Sato began his career in karting before moving to Europe in 1999 with support from Honda. Progressing directly to Formula Three, Sato finished third in the British Championship in 2000 before dominating the series in 2001 with Carlin. During the latter, he also won the Macau Grand Prix and the Masters of Formula 3. Sato signed for Jordan in 2002, making his Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix, under Honda power. He moved with Honda to join BAR in 2003 as a reserve driver, replacing Jacques Villeneuve at his home Grand Prix in Japan and returning as a full-time driver in 2004. Sato achieved his only podium finish at the United States Grand Prix as he finished a career-best eighth in the World Drivers' Championship. Following struggles at BAR in 2005, Sato moved to Super Aguri for his 2006 campaign onwards. Amidst financial troubles, Super Aguri withdrew from the sport after the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix, ending both Sato and teammate Anthony Davidson's driving careers in Formula One.

After a year hiatus, Sato returned to open-wheel racing in the IndyCar Series with KV in 2010. He took his maiden pole position at the Iowa Corn Indy 250 in 2011, and became the first Asian driver to win an IndyCar race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2013 with Foyt. His one-off entry in Formula E at the 2014 Beijing ePrix marked the first—and to this date, only—time that Sato competed without a Honda power unit in his professional career, using a spec McLaren powertrain. Sato signed for Andretti in 2017, winning the Indianapolis 500 for the first time. He took several further wins across his 2018 and 2019 seasons with RLL, before again winning at Indianapolis in 2020. Sato competed for Dale Coyne Racing in 2022, before moving into part-time roles from 2023 onwards.

Sato is a widely popular figure amongst fans and media worldwide, renowned for his aggressive driving style and motto No Attack, No Chance.

Born in Tokyo, Sato began karting in Japan at the age of nineteen. After winning the national karting title in 1997, he moved to Europe with backing from Honda. He briefly raced in Vauxhall Junior and Formula Opel, before debuting in Class B of the British Formula 3 Championship mid-way through 1999 British Formula Three Championship with class wins at the British Grand Prix and Spa for Diamond Racing. He moved to the top class of the championship with Carlin Motorsport in 2000, taking four wins and third place in the championship. In 2001, he won twelve out of 26 races to take a dominant championship win, the first for a Japanese driver in the series. In 2001 he also won the prestigious Macau Grand Prix and Masters of Formula 3 non-championship F3 races.

In 2002 Sato graduated to Formula One with the Honda-powered Jordan team, and was paired with Giancarlo Fisichella. His low point was a tremendous crash in Austria, caused when Nick Heidfeld lost control of his Sauber under braking and hit the side of Sato's car, punching a hole in the side of the cockpit. Throughout he showed flashes of speed but also wild driving, nevertheless the team's faith in Sato was repaid by a fine drive to fifth at his home Grand Prix in Suzuka.

With Honda's focus shifting solely to British American Racing for 2003, Sato joined the Brackley-based outfit as a test driver. However before his late-season racing return to the sport, Takuma Sato was overshadowed by the death of Daijiro Kato who was killed during 2003 Japanese Grand Prix MotoGP race. Kato was Sato's closest friend in the Honda camp and Sato led his tribute to his friend during the 2003 San Marino Grand Prix weekend. For the final round in Japan, Sato replaced Jacques Villeneuve and scored the second points finish of his career with sixth place, after a battle with Michael Schumacher. He was signed to race full-time in 2004. During the 2004 season, Sato qualified four times in the top-three, including a front row start and an overall lap record at the European Grand Prix. Sato's aggressive driving style paid dividends at the United States Grand Prix, where, after the team did not pit under safety car conditions, Sato fought back with some daring overtaking moves to score his first podium finish and the first for a Japanese driver since Aguri Suzuki at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix. Reliability issues caused him to retire six times, but he scored points in nine of the eleven races he completed to finish eighth in the championship with 34 points, the best-ever result for a Japanese driver in Formula One. His efforts helped BAR-Honda to finish second in the Constructors' Championship.

Sato 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. Sato missed the Malaysian Grand Prix with illness, and both drivers were disqualified from the San Marino Grand Prix and the entire team banned from the two subsequent races for using cars that were underweight when all fuel was removed. The Court did not find that this was deliberate. Sato's season never recovered from that point, and he ended the season with eighth place at the Hungarian Grand Prix as his only points finish, despite qualifying seven times in the top-ten. Sato was not re-signed for 2006, despite Honda taking full control of the team.