Marino Sato

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

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

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.

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

In 2020, 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]

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 career summary

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

More information Year, Team ...

Year	Team	Car	Qualifying	Quali Race	Main race
2017	Motopark	Dallara F317	15th	14th	DNF
2018	Motopark	Dallara F317	7th	11th	DNF

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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

More information Year, Team ...

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2024	United Autosports	Hiroshi Hamaguchi Nico Pino	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	LMGT3	212	DNF	DNF
2025	United Autosports	Sean Gelael Darren Leung	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	LMGT3	80	DNF	DNF

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Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

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