Takuma Sato: the magic of Macau

But Sato is not like many other drivers and rather than wimp out for fear of being humbled out on the race track, he only had one intention - to return to Macau after crashing out at the first corner in 2000 and stand on the top step of the podium.

"It is all about passion," explains Sato on why he chose to race in Macau that year. "I was desperately keen to go there, not only because in 2000 I failed but also I had a personal target inside me. I had to go there.

"After winning the British F3 championship and doing a deal with Jordan it was absolutely not necessary to go because you can have a tough time there. But I said to my manager Andrew Gilbert-Scott to ring Eddie Jordan and tell him that unless I go to Macau then I won't go to F1! It wasn't said exactly like that, but it was that sort of thing. I was that passionate about it."

Sato did not need telling beforehand that the pressure on him to perform at Macau, against the world's best Formula 3 drivers, would be immense - and that if he was not successful then the critics would be at his throat. But equally he knew that with that kind of stress pushing him on, there would be no better preparation for the rigours of F1.

"Being put under the pressure of Macau with an F1 contract already signed and everyone desperate to beat me was a good thing. I thought that that sort of pressure would be good for F1. And if I can do it and win Macau like that, then I could be very successful in F1. That is why I went there."

Sato knew that his presence in Macau was likely to stir up a huge amount of interest, but even he was taken aback by just how much attention there was surrounding him. A deluge of media from his native Japan had flown in especially to follow the fortunes of their latest hero, while there was a permanent throng of journalists and photographers hanging around outside the Carlin Motorsport pits hoping for a quick snap or comment from the man himself.

Such a whirlwind of people would have put many drivers in Sato's position off their stride - but the youngster handled it all brilliantly. In fact, it seemed to spur him on and, as he has proved in Formula 1 since, when the pressure is on not many men are better at using it to their advantage.

"I like in really, that the people had so much attention for me. I was very comfortable and I was quite pleased that so many competitors from all over the world had come to make such a great competition. I was so excited just for one F3 race - and I really remember wanting to be successful there. I was so focused for it."

Throughout practice and qualifying all eyes were on how Sato was doing - especially with his team-mate Anthony Davidson keen to upstage the Japanese ace. The pair were soon proving to be one of the quickest combinations, but then the weekend took a twist when Davidson crashed out and injured his neck, meaning he would have to sit out the rest of the weekend.

Sato's experience from 2000 was being put to good use - and he knew there was no point in pushing hard in every session and risking an accident. No driver needs to be told that you don't win Macau if you hit the wall.

"You have to be consistent through every session because the track surface changes dramatically," he said. "One guy can go up to one second faster than everyone else and then suddenly in the next session he is only 12th fastest. I just decided to be in the top three or four all the time. It is not necessary to be super quick in just one session and that is what happened to me in 2000 - I was either super quick or nowhere. For 2001 I just decided to build up the consistency level."

Sato's approach paid dividends and, although he missed out on pole position to Macau rookie Bjorn Wirdheim, he was more than happy with his second placed grid slot. You only need to start near the front in Macau to have a really good chance of winning.

In fact, Sato made such a good start to the first heat that he blasted past Wirdheim off the line and it seemed that he was well on his way to victory.

Well, that was the plan. Unfortunately the ultra-long straight that runs down to Lisboa Corner allowed the chasing pack to get into Sato's slipstream and under braking for Lisboa he was overtaken by both Wirdheim and a hard-charging Jonathan Cochet.

"There was a lot going on," laughs Sato. "At the first start I thought I would easily be at least second into Lisboa but I was actually third. Cochet had come from nowhere and using a lot of slipstream going past. It was tough but then there was a big crash and the race was restarted."

With the car formed up on the grid again, Sato was told by Carlin
Motorsport race engineer 'Boyo' to deliberately get off the line with a small delay for the second start - so he could take advantage of the obvious slipstream.

"Boyo told me to make a slow start - which sounded very strange. But after the lights went out I waited to let Bjorn go and I was running second. So I used the slipstream to get my chance. It sounds funny but it worked, which I was very pleased about."

From then on, Sato's Macau Grand Prix was copybook. He led from the front, was unflustered by the numerous Safety Car periods and duly took victory in the first heat.

"I then went straight to the hotel, had a shower and some Spaghetti
Carbonara before a half an hour snooze," he remembers. "It meant I was fresh and could shut out all the media work between the two heats. That was really important for me because I knew that the second heat would give me the final result."

Sato's preparation paid off. He did not put a wheel wrong through the second heat and, after the huge build-up to the weekend, the pressures thrown up and the intense interest, he grabbed the win he had travelled around the world for.

"It was just incredible," he said. "I wanted to have one really good race to celebrate with all the Carlin boys for their hard work over the previous two years - to say a big thanks to them. To win it was such an incredible feeling and I finally felt ready for F1."

In the three years since Macau, Sato has carved a reputation as one of the most fearless and exciting drivers on the Formula 1 grid. And even though he has visited some pretty special places and driven on some amazing circuits, he still has fond memories of the challenge that the Guia track throws up.

"I think Macau has some very special characteristics," he says. "Somewhere like Monaco is all about slow speed and there are no real high speed corners. But Macau has, I think, the longest straight in F3 and you are doing something like 240kph, which is incredibly fast. And up in the mountains the direction changes so fast, there are low speed corners, and hairpins. It is a crazy, crazy circuit but I love it..."