Formula 4 In 2015, Sato competed in the 2015 Italian F4 Championship for
Euronova Racing/Vincenzo Sospiri Racing. 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.
FIA Formula 3 European Championship 2017 Sato progressed to the
2017 FIA Formula 3 European Championship to drive for
Motopark. He scored one point during the season and finished 19th in the standings.
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.
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.
FIA Formula 2 Championship 2019 In the summer of 2019, Sato progressed to the
FIA Formula 2 Championship, replacing
Arjun Maini at
Campos Racing from the round at
Spa-Francorchamps onwards. However, after the fatal accident of
Anthoine Hubert, the Japanese racer would not officially make his F2 debut until the
Monza feature race, finishing twelfth overall. He improved to eleventh in the sprint, before having a point-less pair of races in
Sochi. Sato would briefly challenge for points in the season finale in Yas Marina, albeit it was not enough to earn him a points finish. Despite this, he took part in the post-season test on the week after the final race, driving for
Trident.
2020 In 2020, Sato signed for
Trident Racing to partner
Roy Nissany in the
FIA Formula 2 Championship. Sato only managed to score one point at
Mugello, and eventually finished 22nd in the standings, four points and three positions behind Nissany.
2021 Despite this, Sato was kept on by
Trident for the
2021 season. In the second race of the
first round, he equalled his best ever
F2 result, finishing eighth and scoring one point. However, this would end up being the only points finish for Sato, as he ended up 21st overall.
2022 during the
2022 Spielberg Formula 2 round Sato remained in the series in
2022, this time joining
Virtuosi Racing alongside
Jack Doohan. 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. 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. 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 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). 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". == Sportscar career ==