Sato?!?

[VaVaVoom]

Cant help thinking that after Sato's show in both Australia and Malaysia that he hasn't quite grasped F1.

Clashing with your team mate is a definate no no!

Can't imagine Sato will have an easy ride at Jordan in the coming weeks, oh well EJ will make these mistakes to keep in with Honda

Ok, maybe a little unfair but I would be interested to hear peoples views

[Mr Hahn]

Haha, I totally agree.

I wonder where all the Sato fans are now. To be fair, we are only two races into the season, and he's not the first guy to ever crash into his team mate, but still. It's hardly the form we were led to believe Sato capable of.

Meanwhile, in America, Justin Wilson, the man turned down by Jordan for being 'too tall' completed a 12 hour sportscar race without inducing any damage to his car, or any other and being fairly rapid into the bargain.

Take a good look at what you've done, Mr. Jordan.

[KA]

Sato's certainly had a nightmare start to the season, but I think it's a bit early for the vultures to start circling- OK, running into the back of Fisi was a pretty dumb novice mistake, but he's hardly the first driver (even the first Jordan driver..) to take his team-mate out- I seem to recall some guy named Ralf Schumacher doing that at some point- wonder what happened to him?

THe qualifying shunt in Australia wasn't Sato's fault- the transmission developed a mind of it's own mid-corner. If you look at the few laps he ran in the race, he raced pretty well. It should come right pretty soon- I do think maybe he's trying a bit too hard at the moment though.....

[Glen]

He should devote every effort to a simple finish. Very few drivers can come into F1 and attack from word go. Montoya tried it, and even he had to relax a little and let the consistency build up before he could push hard reliably.

[Speeddemon555]

I saw that incident and made me think that Sato is not ready to run with the F1 big boys.

[Raven]

Sato made a mistake and it probably cost Jordan a point or two considering they were both able to run through to the finish reliably.
Still, I wouldn't write him off just yet. I've got a feeling he's going to give Fisi something to think about sooner or later.

[Jukebox]

Even if Sato did not hit Fisi, they would not be in a position for any points. Jordan obviously is not in the same league as Toyota and Sauber.

[neilap]

Sauber might be a stretch right now but I feel that they are better than Toyota. Sato is new to the sport so I do not expect him to be as quick as a man that some equate with MS. Anyway, Sato seems to be having all the worst things happen now. Hopefully for him this is the last of it. Toyota might have the hp but the car is not as fast. Idont think so. We will see by seasons end.

[Don K]

Originally posted by Jukebox
Even if Sato did not hit Fisi, they would not be in a position for any points.

I think they were driving at 9th and 10th position at that time.
Out of the drivers who were ahead of them, Barricello, Raikkonen, Coulthard, and Trulli would leave the race, and Salo would fall back later.
Out of the drivers that were behind them, Montoya and Michael would finish ahead of them.
So they would probably have finished in 6th and 7th place.

[calais]

although i dont dislike sato, in a way i am glad that he is a bit of a flop. it was obvoius EJ only chose him for political purposes {keeping honda happy}

[mac]

Rightyo calais, give him a chance. He's had two races and really only made one mistake. I'm not exactly his biggest fan, but I'm willing to give him a chance. Everyone who is giving it to him now, should wake up to themselves. He's there for the season now, so let's see how he goes through the WHOLE season before we start making rash judgements.

Formula One lost one of the best talents that came into the championship all because the media, the fans, even his own team didn't give him the chance he deserved. He was written off after two races and no one bothered with details after that.

His name .... Alex Zanardi.

[Adam43]

It didn't do any long-term damage to Ralf's career after he ran into his team-mate at Jordan in his first year.

It's early days and perhaps Sato hasn't realised that this isn't F3 yet!

The guy was British F3 champion so there are some credentials there. I don't think Jordan chose him just because of Honda.

[StuiE]

now why dont i see SatoSan here?

[Glen]

I read yesterday how Sato went without hesitation to every member of the team to apologise personally. Now that's what I call a decent bloke and a team player. Can't imagine Schumacher or DC doing that!

Fisi says he's forgiven so I guess it's end of problem.
It is the kind of error you can only make once though.

[VaVaVoom]

I can see that it could take Sato these couple of races to settle into F1 after jumping from F3 but I can't recall either Jenson or Kimi (and Kimi had more of an excuse after jumping ship from FRenault) having similar troubles in there 'getting to grips' with an F1 car. Please correct me if i'm wrong.

Quote - AdamAshmore "The guy was British F3 champion so there are some credentials there. I don't think Jordan chose him just because of Honda."

Not sure I agree with Adam but it's to late now to start slamming EJ's choice of driver.

Quote - AdamAshmore "It's early days and perhaps Sato hasn't realised that this isn't F3 yet!" :confused:

About time he realised, dont you think! £££££££'s should have made it easy for him to understand the difference between F3 and F1!

[Osella]

Sato will get it together in the end, I just hope that he and Giancarlo can develop the car properly, and that EJ doesn't run out of money. Also I hope that Honda take the Toyota competition seriously.... how long before that becomes a customer motor?

[f1manoz]

IMO Sato did perform the cardinal sin of ramming your team-mate, but on the whole he hasn't been too bad.

Australia he didn't get a chance at qualifying, and he didn't get much of a chance at a race.

Malaysia was his first full qualifying, and he stuck it mid-grid (best he could have done) and then in the race, bar the accident, he did well.

Give him time. He'll eventually come good.

[Spaced Invader]

anyone that saw satos dominence in f3 will know that there is talent there and it will show in f1 as the season progresses. good luck to him.

[Mr V]

did anybody see saturdays final free practice? he made what will proberbly be the "save" of the season! that is what eddie jordan saw in him when decieding wether to take him on or not! sato hasn't had the best of starts to his gp career, granted, but, i for 1 think he'll come good! can anyone remember eddie jordan making a bum decision with his drivers, entering into f1?

[Sato san]

how he got that car pionting back in a straight direction i will never know. That was just awesome to watch , he just had it completely sideways as god know wot speed !!!!!!.. Sato is a massive talent , it just that the same total balls out racing attitude that won him the F3 championship last year , has cost him a couple of mistakes in F1 this . He will settle down for sure , Eddie has made a very smart choice by signing him this season.

[Sato san]

Originally posted by gtr69
now why dont i see SatoSan here?

IM HERE IM HERE !!!

in reply to Mr Hahn who said Justin had been overlooked and has now completed a 12 hour sports car race and didnt do any damage to the car.....Sportscar racing and F1 are totally different , not even the same type of race disiplines . I agree with everyone that says Justin should be in F1 , and its crazy that he's not , but it would be just as crazy if Sato had been overlooked also .

If you actually look at the 2 races so far , Apart from one very silly mistake when he hit Fisi on sunday , Taku has been very impressive . He had terrible mechanical problems in Melbourne , qualified in the spare car , run some good times in practice , his big crash was a car problem not a Sato problem , and Eddie Jordan said how impresses he was with Taku's speed and professional attitude .

so maybe he's not that doing that bad afterall.
anyway , it only 2 races in to the season , i think he will be pushing Fisi all the way in the 2nd half of the year.

[surf82]

well sato ain't like montoya..winning everything that he entered..especially when he's a rookie..but i am glad that the fella is such a wonderful person on paddock...apologized to everyone after the incident..it's the real sportmanship that we all needed in the world of F1...!!!he's going to make a big result in a while~!he ain't a chamion in F3 only..in F1 for him..only time will tell...

[Tazio Nuvolari]

Jeez what a load of old **** I am reading here

If Sato was Brazillian or German everyone would be saying 'give him time to settle' but because he is Japanese he is lumbered with the reputations of previous Japanese drivers all of whom have been flops

Ralf Schumacher did the same to Fisichella in Argentina 97 and spent more time that season in the wall than on the road yet with time and patience he developed into a very good F1 driver and race winner

Montoya's start to the season last year was disappointing to say the least until Brazil when suddenly because of one manoevure he became a legend

Sato has all the ingredients to be a top quality F1 driver and dare I say it, multiple race winner before his career is out (I am sober )

Lay off the guy, all this stick is because he is a Japanese driver and because of the stereotype he is instantly labelled **** before he has had a chance to prove himself

[KA]

Originally posted by Tazio Nuvolari
Jeez what a load of old **** I am reading here

If Sato was Brazillian or German everyone would be saying 'give him time to settle' but because he is Japanese he is lumbered with the reputations of previous Japanese drivers all of whom have been flops


Lay off the guy, all this stick is because he is a Japanese driver and because of the stereotype he is instantly labelled **** before he has had a chance to prove himself

Well said!- I think a lot of the problem is that some people are making the connection between the Japanese driver and Honda engines and assuming that it's a replay of the situation with the likes of Nakajima at Lotus in the 80's- i.e only really in the drive to keep Honda happy

I can't help wondering if the same comments would be made if he was driving for Sauber etc...?


I'd be the first to admit- as I posted before- that he's had a nightmare so far, and that he made a big mistake in Malaysia, but having seen the way he raced in F3 last year, the guy looks like a major talent, and all I think he's guilty of at present is maybe trying a little too hard- once he's settled in, then I think he's got the ability to match Fisichella before too long.

Did anyone notice his individual sector times in qualifying last weekend?- faster than Fisi in two of the three sectors of the lap but lost out badly in the third- slow out of turns 12-14. Once he's found a little more consistency, he's going to be very fast.....

[Sato san]

Not bad for a driver thats never actually raced on the circuit before.

anyone who has actually followed Taku's career to this point , will know that he has bucket loads of talent , he is a charming bloke when you meet him , his driving style is a total balls out racer , and he wants to beat everyone all the time.
out of all of those things , the only one that might let him down is the last one , and im sure throughout his rookie year , he will learn to cope with the highs and lows of F1.