Takuma Sato's race debut came in 1996, the Japanese driver saving the money to buy a kart before entering the Honda school the following year. From there he has was nurtured by the manufacturer and landed a fully funded drive in the all Japan Formula 3 Championship in 1998. However, he opted to pass this opportunity by and made the move to Europe instead.

The Diamond Racing team became his home during that season where he contested several Formula Vauxhall events before being promoted to Formula Opel. For the 1999 season he took sixth place in the Formula Opel Euroseries for his first full season of racing as well as participating in the last few rounds of the British F3 Championship (Class B). Graduating to Carlin Motorsport and Class A in the 2000 championship, Sato laid claim to no less than five victories to finish third overall. His first taste of an F1 car came later that year when he underwent tests for both British American Racing and Jordan Grand Prix, eventually signing a deal with BAR as their 2001 test driver.

He continued in F3 and took the title after winning 12 out of a possible 13 events, a very prestigious result. He also went on to win The Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort and the Macau event later in the year.

He made the step up into full time Formula One, signing a deal with Jordan to drive alongside Giancarlo Fisichella for 2002 season. Sato ended the season with a fifth position at Suzuka. With strong backing from Honda, Takuma Sato spent 2003 as BAR Honda test driver before being called into action for the season finale in Japan to replace Jacques Villeneuve. Sato drove a solid race and a fine sixth position was his reward.

Returning to Formula One full time in 2004, Sato proved fast from the outset but his season was beset by poor reliability. While team-mate Jenson Button took race result after race result, Sato was not so fortunate. Eighth position in the championship was a reasonable result for Sato, his best result coming with a fine third position at the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Heading to the 2005 season the pressure was on Sato to raise his game still further and take the challenge to team-mate Button.

For whatever reason, 2005 was a disastrous season for Sato. The 007 chassis mated with the Honda powerplant was not the most competitive package but while Button got on with the job and scored 37 points, Sato's season fell apart and come the conclusion of the championship, he had just a single point to his credit.

The final races of the season saw the pressure mounting and at his home event in Japan, Sato made a mess of his first lap and then rammed into the side of Jarno Trulli's Toyota. China was even worse as he jumped the start and then drove an erratic race before retiring with a gearbox issue. It was a dreadful season from a driver who has the talent to compete with the likes of Button. Emotionally Sato let the pressure to perform effect his race craft and as a result, BAR Honda decided to bring in Rubens Barrichello as his replacement for the 2006 season.

Still very much under the wing of Honda, Sato joined the new Super Aguri Honda team in 2006. Facing some low competition from first Yuji Ide and then Sakon Yamamoto, Sato was very much the team leader in the team. While points were never on the cards, the small team made good progress though the season and it was fairly common to see Sato running ahead of more established rivals early in the races.

The season finale in Brazil was by far Sato's best race of the season as he took the chequered flag in tenth position ahead of six of his rivals. Sato remained with the team in 2007 and with a better technical package, was able to record an eighth position in Spain and then a sixth in Montreal.

Sato remains with the team in 2008.