Takuma Sato Artwork
Andrew Kitson captures the first F1 race for Takuma Sato at Melbourne’s Australian Grand Prix of 2002.
Following a successful championship year in Formula Three in 2001—winning the British F3, Masters of F3 and the celebrated Macau F3 GP—it was not so surprising to see Takuma Sato appear in F1 the following year. Many thought it would be aboard a Honda-powered BAR, but for whatever reason it was in the Jordan EJ12-Honda. After a succession of poor finishes and a horrific crash in the early part of the season, Sato began to improve with a season-ending 5th-place finish in his home Grand Prix in Japan, scoring his first F1 championship points. This artwork is from his debut race in Melbourne, Australia, for the opening round of the 2002 Formula One Championship.