Sato Battles Nerves to Eclipse Button

Japan's Takuma Sato eclipsed BAR teammate Jenson Button in his first competitive drive for a year, finishing 11th in the first qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Sato, only driving in Sunday's season-ending race after Canadian Jacques Villeneuve quit BAR in protest at being dropped for the 2004 season, battled nerves to clock an impressive time of 1:31.832.

"Of course, I was quite nervous after being out for 12 months," said the 26-year-old Sato, unveiled in midweek as the replacement for former World Champion Villeneuve in 2004.

"It was my first time with the one-lap qualifying system, so I wanted to make sure I didn't make any silly mistakes today. Under the circumstances I have to be happy with the result."

Sato, who has worked as a test driver for the Honda-powered BAR team in 2003, insisted he had no illusions about emulating his memorable fifth-place finish for Jordan last year at Suzuka.

"That was amazing, but this is a totally different situation from last year. My job is to support Jenson in this race, so I will be doing everything I can do help the team," said Sato.

British teammate Button was 16th quickest on Friday in 1:32.374 after his engine blew up during free practice in the morning. Asked how he had felt about being told his BAR debut would come at Suzuka on Sunday, Sato said the news had come as a shock.

"It was such a sudden announcement, it was a bit of a shock really. But it was a good surprise," he said. "As a professional F1 driver you have to be ready mentally and physically. I wasn't expecting it...these things happen. The result today was a big bonus."