USA: Sato speaks at the Podium Press Conference

By Phil Huff (21/06/2004)
June 21 2004

Lucky Strike BAR Honda's Takuma Sato had to face the press for the second time in two days, this time as a podium finisher in today's United States GP. Here's what he had to say..

Takuma, a podium for Lucky Strike BAR Honda. It was a great drive and an interesting first corner. Fernando Alonso was very aggressive there as well.

Yes, this is a really great result for the team, not from a personal point of view but also for the team. The mechanics are working so hard and also the Honda engineers in Japan, everyone working to solve the problem that we had. And I am so happy for the team to bring some result here. Obviously in turn one I was really surprised when the Renault came out to the right side and I lost the position and the restart was just okay but with the Ralf situation it was obviously very, very concerning, him sitting for a long time. Under the new regulations, you cannot push hard under the safety car so the team came on the radio and said 'keep on the fuel and slow it down'. When I came onto the front straight there was so much debris and you had to avoid all the debris and obviously Ralf was in the middle of the track so I had to nearly stop and that is why I let Michael join as the leader under the safety car situation, so we will have to look into that one. Nevertheless, third place for me is just fantastic.

And how was the car in the remainder of the race?

The car was beautiful, to be honest. It was working so well, having had a bit of luck with the pace in Canada we struggled under the consistency for the long runs. But today the car was so consistent and I was able to push so hard to battle and getting back my position. It was so close at the end it was really great.

What does this podium mean to you?

It means a lot to me, and not only for me but also the team, the staff are really working hard and obviously the Honda engineers who were looking into what was the problem in the last two races and I am very pleased sitting here, coming back after yesterday’s press conference, to be in the same position. It was really a first step but it is a very important result for us today.

You had quite a moment with Olivier Panis on the back straight. Tell us about that.

Before that, there was drama through the race. Right at the beginning, at the start, and obviously Alonso had a really good start and passed me into turn one. But sooner or later he had a puncture in front of me, probably hit some debris or whatever after the first incident into turn one. That is why, when the second safety car came in, and Ralf was obviously sitting in the middle of the track and there was so much debris and I was the first person to come through and there was just debris everywhere so I really had to try to avoid everything and had to stop the speed and that is why I didn't take advantage of having a lot of fuel on board as a two-stop strategy. But after that I had to fight back my position and obviously the back straight with Olivier, I thought it was just okay but he seemed to be fractionally coming in to me. I was a little bit surprised at that, but I had a good battle with David Coulthard and Olivier and in the end we had a result we wanted and that was the important thing.

Did you touch with Olivier?

No, we never touched. We never touched a car today.

And what about with Jarno, down at the first corner here?

It was a bit of a drama again. Into the last corner I saw the oil flag was waving and Jarno was a little bit hesitant on the throttle onto the banking and I was really coming in on the slipstream. And still there was oil flags everywhere but I didn't see the yellow flags. When I was diving to him, just in the middle of the straight, I saw the yellow flags just into turn one but I was sure it was before the yellow flag that this move was completely done. The team came on and said 'yellow flag, yellow flag' and there was just so many flags over there that I was a bit confused at first. Firstly I jumped off the throttle and then I came back into neutral into the braking and at the same time one of the McLaren cars came in and I had to brake and I couldn't turn in because there was a McLaren and I lost it in the middle of the corner and obviously Jarno was on the outside and we both went off on the grass. But we didn't touch and it just happens in racing I think.

Then the team was a bit worried the car was damaged and something flew off later on.

Um, did we? I don't know. Obviously the car was working pretty well after that. The team radioed me and asked 'how's the balance, how's the tyres?' and I just radioed back and I was perfectly happy with the car and the balance and the car was working very good. I am very impressed with the work of the Michelin tyres. Today we made a significant step for the consistency through the race. We never had this much consistency as we have here so I am very happy.

On the podium, the crowd was cheering wildly for Michael and Rubens but also for you. Tell us what it is like to be up on that podium with that crowd just going wild and cheering for you?

It's just great. We have been supported by the whole of the fans in the United States of America all week. Even when we've walked into town and had food in restaurants, everybody has been cheering, not only for me but all drivers, and I felt a huge energy in Indianapolis. When we finished, obviously we could hear the cheering from the crowd, but on the podium everyone is so happy and obviously I was happy so it was an unbelievable experience today for me.

This is a great result, obviously any driver worth his salt wants to win a race. Is it too soon to think about a win this year or next year?

Obviously I want to win, everybody aims to be the best of the best but you have to do it step by step, and for me, I was waiting for a long time to have a result like this. And as I said, this is only the first step. It is an important day today. Now we have a car with tyres matching with consistency going back to Europe and obviously we are challenging these guys closely. Obviously, we want to win – I don't know when – but obviously we will try really hard for the rest of the season.

Were you aware that your lap times were often faster than the leading Ferraris and was it frustrating to you to be in heavy traffic from the time after your first pit stop to the end?

It was. I had a car really capable of great lap times and not only for the first lap as historically but also remaining in the long runs, it was really consistent. Obviously Jock came on the radio and every time he was saying 'great lap, great lap, you are the fastest on the track' whatever the reason. Also one time Michael came after the pit stop when I was gradually catching so I knew our pace was right on the pace. But as you said there was heavy traffic after the pit stop and I had to hold back. But obviously the racing is very, very exciting, whatever the position, the overtaking is a fantastic feeling so I really enjoyed it today.