Originally posted by advanR
haha, its so hard to avoid defending him. why are so many people bashing this guy?
struggling to handle the cars, hardly.
he didnt have a seat this year because jordan needed a pay driver. you honestly think firman is better? he is pretty bad, probably the slowest driver so far. jordan using cosworth engines this year probably had something to do with it also.
satos future looks bright. next year he will have a seat with BAR, a team that looks to be on their way up. There will be no doubting his talent next year.
Sato is definitely talented, I don't think he's being unduly bashed here. If you want to see bashing, search for posts by myself or Vat_Man containing the words
Tarso Marques!
He completely dominated British F3, which is undoubtedly a great achievement, because it's one of the most competitive single seater series in the whole world. The problem with it is it requires a very specific style and having developed that style, I think it's fair to say that Sato struggled to adapt to the different style required by F1.
Of course, it is also fair to say that he struggled with engine failures, and also with the fact that Jordan were struggling to find the funds for an extensive testing programme, but then Takuma himself must take a portion of the blame for these things since he himself contributed to the budget shortfall by increasing the parts build cost.
And it's absolutely right to say that the only reason he's not driving the Jordan this year is financial, even if the rumours of $6m 'support' from Honda are true. However, he did absolutely the right thing jumping at the long-term B.A.R. contract, since that team will successfully lever Villeneuve out this year, plus a year of testing will do him the world of good.
Like I say, he's not being bashed per se, but he has attracted fair criticism for a rather erratic debut year.
