Sato Takes Blame for Stalling

The Japanese had hoped to kick-start his season with a strong showing at BAR's home race, having qualified seventh, but it all went wrong before the start when he accidentally cut the engine at the end of the formation lap.

"The simple fact is that as I was going through the start procedure on the way to the grid, I hit the wrong button on the steering wheel as I was warming up the tyres," said Sato, who eventually resumed two laps down on the rest of the field.

"I would like to apologise to everyone in the team, everyone who got the car ready and put so much preparation into the British Grand Prix this weekend. I couldn't deliver the result we wanted and could have had today.

"The team did a great job to get me back in the race and I tried my best but was so far behind that I couldn't do anything. It's been a tough year for us all and we can only continue to keep trying and aim for better things in the second half of the season."

BAR's nightmare start to the campaign, allied to the bizarre events at Indianapolis that helped backmarkers Jordan and Minardi score valuable points, has left Sato at the very bottom of the driver rankings.

He has even been outscored by part-time driver Vitantonio Liuzzi, who benefited from BAR's disqualifications at the San Marino Grand Prix to take eighth place on his debut.

The only other driver to have not scored this season after making a race start is Anthony Davidson, who ironically filled in for Sato at the Malaysian Grand Prix after he was forced out of the event through illness.