OCTOBER 21, 2005

Sato, Suzuki and Midland

Takuma Sato is a man in demand at the moment in F1 circles, despite his somewhat erratic driving in recent months. The former BAR driver had an awful season which ended up in a flurry of accidents, penalties and unforced errors. But it seems that Honda is keen for Takuma to stay in F1 and he has an offer to drive for the much-vaunted Honda B team, which is currently being put together by Aguri Suzuki. If that materialises - and our understanding is that the only thing in the way of that is the practical difficulties involved in building a car in the time available - Sato and Anthony Davidson will be the team's drivers. Both men have also been on the shopping list of Midland F1 but there appears to be one slight problem in this as Midland wants money. Takuma's principal backer is Honda and so it is not very likely that they will pay for him to race in a Toyota car, although it might come to that if Suzuki's team does not make it. The team has until November 15 to file an entry.