Marino Sato

Marino Sato (佐藤万璃音, Satō Marino, born 12 May 1999) is a Japanese racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series for United Autosports. He previously drove in the FIA World Endurance Championship for United Autosports. He is the 2019 Euroformula Open champion.

Sato is not related to former Formula One driver Takuma Sato.

Early career

Formula 4

In 2015, Sato competed in the 2015 Italian F4 Championship for Euronova Racing/Vincenzo Sospiri Racing.^[2] He finished on the podium once and came tenth 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, he only finished 18th in the driver's championship.^{[citation needed]}

FIA Formula 3 European Championship

2017

Sato progressed to the 2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship to drive for Motopark. He scored one point during the season and finished 19th in the standings.^[3]

2018

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

Euroformula Open

Sato moved to the Euroformula Open Championship in 2019. He dominated the championship, winning it with nine victories and helped Motopark to win the team championship.^[4]

FIA Formula 2 Championship

2019

In the summer of 2019, Sato progressed to the FIA Formula 2 Championship, replacing Arjun Maini at Campos Racing from the round at Spa-Francorchamps onwards. However, after the fatal accident of Anthoine Hubert,^[5] the Japanese racer would not officially make his F2 debut until the Monza feature race, finishing twelfth overall. He improved to eleventh in the sprint, before having a point-less pair of races in Sochi. 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.^[6]

2020

In 2020, Sato signed for Trident Racing to partner Roy Nissany in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.^[7] Sato only managed to score one point at Mugello, and eventually finished 22nd in the standings, four points and three positions behind Nissany.

2021

Despite this, Sato was kept on by Trident for the 2021 season.^[8] In the second race of the first round, 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, this time joining Virtuosi Racing alongside Jack Doohan.^[9] A point-less opening weekend in Bahrain was followed up by his first points finish of the year, as Sato ended up eighth in the sprint race at Jeddah, after which he praised the team for the strong pace.^[10] After a pair of rounds that failed to yield any points, the Japanese driver managed to score a point in Monaco with a tenth-place finish, and managed to finish eighth in the subsequent feature race in Baku, having managed to steer clear of trouble in a race of attrition.^[11] 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, 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 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 (who would soon become an AlphaTauri race driver).^[12] He ended the session with the 13th fastest time (1:38.495), reflecting on that day as one that "made [him] visualise more what [his] dream is".^[13]

Sportscar career

2023: ELMS debut

For the 2023 season, Sato transitioned into sportscar racing, driving for United Autosports in the LMP2 category of the European Le Mans Series alongside Philip Hanson and Oliver Jarvis.^[14] With the help of those two experienced LMP2 racers, Sato managed to take victory thrice, taking his first prototype win at Aragón and sweeping the races at Portimão, which led to the team finishing second in the standings.^[15][16][17]

2024: FIA World Endurance Championship

Following his performances in the European Le Mans Series, Sato was announced to be remaining with United Autosports to make his international sportscar racing debut in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, driving in the newly established LMGT3 class in a McLaren 720S GT3 Evo.^[18]

Sato was also originally announced to be competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in the LMP2 class for 2024, racing alongside former Formula One driver Paul di Resta, but he later withdrew from the IMSA programme after an upgrade in his FIA driver categorisation from silver to gold, leaving him to "focus fully on the WEC challenge ahead."^[18][19] In December 2023, United would announce that Sato had signed on for a sophomore season in the ELMS, partnering Ben Hanley and Filip Ugran.^[20]

2025

Sato was retained by United Autosports to drive in the LMGT3 class of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship.^[21]

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

(key) (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

(key) (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

(key) (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.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

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

References

1. ^ "Profile - Marino Sato Official Web Site". Retrieved 2023-10-28.
2. ^ David, Gruz (2015-02-22). "Euronova sign Mauricio Baiz, Marino Sato for Italian F4". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
3. ^ Allen, Peter (2017-02-14). "Motopark adds Marino Sato to European F3 line-up". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
4. ^ Wood, Ida (2019-09-21). "Marino Sato seals EF Open title at Barcelona as Liam Lawson wins". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
5. ^ "Statement: Incident during FIA Formula 2 Feature Race, Spa-Francorchamps". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
6. ^ "Abu Dhabi FIA F2 post-season-test day 3 classification - Mazepin and Schumacher on top - automobilsport.com". www.automobilsport.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
7. ^ "Trident sign Sato for 2020". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
8. ^ "Trident Motorsport and Marino Sato remain together for the 2021 FIA F2 Championship - automobilsport.com". www.automobilsport.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
9. ^ Allen, Peter (2021-12-13). "Doohan and Sato to race for Virtuosi in F2 in 2022". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
10. ^ "Virtuosi 'strong straight from the go' in Jeddah, praises Sato". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
11. ^ "Sato happy with points finish in Baku after staying out of trouble". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
12. ^ "Marino Sato joins AlphaTauri for Abu Dhabi F1 test". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
13. ^ "Maiden wins and confidence builders: moments that made Marino Sato". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
14. ^ Autosports, United. "European Le Mans Series LMP2 challenge unveiled". United Autosports. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
15. ^ Euwema, Davey (2023-08-26). "United Autosports Converts Pole to 4H Aragon Victory – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
16. ^ "United Wins, APR Takes LMP2 Title In Wild ELMS Finale". www.dailysportscar.com. 22 October 2023. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
17. ^ "SATO LOOKING TO STEP UP A PLACE IN 2024". www.europeanlemansseries.com. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
18. ^ "WEC: Sato set for McLaren LMGT3 programme subject to entry confirmation". United Autosports. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
19. ^ "IMSA: Goldburg, Sato and di Resta team up for 2024 season". United Autosports. 28 September 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
20. ^ "Sato & Ugran Added To United ELMS LMP2 Squad". www.dailysportscar.com. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
21. ^ "United Retains Saucy, Sato for LMGT3 Effort". SportsCar365. 22 November 2024.
22. ^ "Driver: Marino Sato | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 2025-10-24.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)