is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

who most recently raced for

Virtuosi Racing Virtuosi Racing (previously known as Virtuosi UK, and UNI Virtuosi in Formula 2) is a British racing team currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. The team previously ran in the Auto GP series, in addition to running the Russian Tim ...

in the

FIA Formula 2 Championship The FIA Formula 2 Championship is a second-tier single-seater championship organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Held on racing circuits, the championship was introduced in 2017, following the rebranding of the lo ...

. He is the 2019 Euroformula Open champion. He is not related to former Formula One driver

Takuma Sato , nicknamed "Taku", is a Japanese professional racing driver. Sato is a two time winner of the Indianapolis 500, having won the event in 2017 and 2020. He was the first Asian driver to win the Indianapolis 500, and the twentieth driver to win th ...

Racing career

Formula 4

In 2015, Marino Sato competed in the 2015 Italian F4 Championship for Euronova Racing/Vincenzo Sospiri Racing. He finished on the podium once and came 10th in the final standings. Sato would remain with the team for the 2016 Italian F4 Championship. However, even when he won a race at

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...

, he only finished 18th in the driver's championship.

FIA Formula 3 European Championship

2017

Sato progressed to the

2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship The 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship is a multi-event motor racing championship for third-tier single-seat open wheel formula racing cars that is held across Europe. The championship featured drivers competing in two-litre Formula Three ...

to drive for Motopark. He scored one point during the season and finished 19th in the standings.

2018

Despite having been the second-lowest driver in the standings to compete at every event, he was retained for the 2018 season. His performance improved compared to 2017, and he finished 16th in the championship.

Euroformula Open

He moved to the

Euroformula Open Championship The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...

in 2019. He dominated the championship, winning it with nine victories and helped Motopark to win the team championship.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

2019

In the Summer of 2019, Sato progressed to the

, replacing

Arjun Maini Arjun Maini (born 10 December 1997) is an Indian professional racing driver, currently competing in the DTM. He has previously also competed in FIA Formula 2 Championship with Trident Racing, as well as Campos Racing. Early life Maini comes ...

Campos Racing Campos Racing is a Spanish motor racing team, founded by former Formula One driver Adrián Campos. The team has been successful in Formula Three and the GP2 Series. History After retiring from racing, Campos formed his own team at the end of 19 ...

from the round at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

onwards. However, after the fatal accident of

Anthoine Hubert Anthoine Hubert (; 22 September 1996 – 31 August 2019) was a French professional racing driver. He was the 2018 GP3 Series champion and a member of the Renault Sport Academy. He died at the age of 22, following an accident during the featur ...

, the Japanese racer would not officially make his F2 debut until the

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

feature face, finishing twelfth overall. He improved to eleventh in the sprint, before having a point-less pair of races in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

. Sato would briefly challenge for points in the season finale in Yas Marina, albeit it was not enough to earn him a points finish. Despite this, he took part in the post-season test on the week after the final race, driving for

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

2020

In 2020 he signed for

Trident Racing Trident Racing is a motor racing team that competes in single-seater formula racing. It was founded in 2006 in order to compete in the GP2 championship, which was Europe's second highest-ranking single-seater formula below Formula One. Trident is ...

to partner

Roy Nissany Roy Nissany ( he, רוי ניסני; born 30 November 1994) is an Israeli racing driver who is set to compete in the Formula 2 Championship with PHM Racing by Charouz. He is also currently a Formula 1 test driver with Williams Grand Prix Eng ...

in the

. Sato only managed to score one point at

Mugello The Mugello is a historic region and valley in northern Tuscany, in Italy, corresponding to the course of the River Sieve. It is located to the north of the city of Florence and includes the northernmost portion of the Metropolitan City of Fl ...

, and eventually finished 22nd in the standings, four points and three positions behind Nissany. 2021 British Grand Prix (51348552677)

2021

Despite this, the Japanese driver was kept on by

for the 2021 season. In the second race of the

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

he equalled his best ever F2 result, finishing eighth and scoring one point. However, this would end up being the only points finish for Sato, as he ended up 21st overall.

2022

Sato remained in the series in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, this time joining

alongside Jack Doohan. A point-less opening weekend in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

was followed up by his first points finish of the year, as Sato ended up eighth in the sprint race at

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

, after which he praised the team for the strong pace. After a pair of rounds that failed to yield any points, the Japanese driver broke his duck in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, and managed to finish eighth in the subsequent feature race in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, having managed to steer clear of trouble in a race of attrition. The following rounds brought with them a heap of bad luck, with Sato experiencing multiple mechanical issues, as well as having a wheel falling off after a pit stop in

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

, a race in which he had fought for points. Having failed to score points in the second half of the season, the Japanese driver finished 22nd in the drivers' standings. Sato was replaced by

Amaury Cordeel Amaury Cordeel (; born 9 July 2002) is a Belgian racing driver set to compete in the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship with Virtuosi Racing. He has previously raced in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, Formula Renault Eurocup, Toyota Racing Series a ...

at Virtuosi for the 2023 season.

Formula One

Sato drove in the end of season Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi for Scuderia AlphaTauri, alongside fellow countryman

Yuki Tsunoda Yuki Tsunoda ( Japanese: 角田裕毅, ''Tsunoda Yūki'', ; born 11 May 2000) is a Japanese racing driver who is racing for Scuderia AlphaTauri in Formula One. Supported by Honda since 2016 through the , he was the 2018 Japanese F4 champion ...

(who would soon become an AlphaTauri race driver). He ended the session with the 13th fastest time (1:38.495), reflecting on that day as one that "made imvisualise more what isdream is".

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Complete Euroformula Open Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers) ^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
* Season still in progress.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sato, Marino 1999 births Living people Sportspeople from Yokohama Japanese racing drivers FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers Euronova Racing drivers Motopark Academy drivers Campos Racing drivers Trident Racing drivers Virtuosi Racing drivers Karting World Championship drivers Italian F4 Championship drivers Euroformula Open Championship drivers