Many Japanese drivers have made it into the sport, but none have made a big impact - the best result by a Japanese driver was a third place by Aguri Suzuki at his home grand prix back in 1990.

Sato shows quite a bit more promise, though, after easily winning the British F3 championship by a record margin a few weeks ago. He believes in his own ability, and even reckons he will be the first driver from his country to take Formula 1’s title.

"I will be world champion," he told The Times. "Winning Formula One is my ultimate target. I want to develop myself, little by little, step by step. Then, one day, when I have the opportunity I will take it.
"It is not going to happen immediately. I look at everybody as a rival, but I don't try to think too much about other drivers."

Speaking about his domination of this year’s British F3 championship Sato said, "Basically, what I did with British Formula 3 was to command everyone’s attention so that everyone in the team worked for me."