Sakon Yamamoto

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Sakon Yamamoto
Sakon Yamamoto 2010 Motorsport Japan.jpg
Yamamoto at the Motorsport Japan event in 2010.
Born (1982-07-09) 9 July 1982 (age 39)
Toyohashi, Japan
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityJapan Japanese
Active years20062007, 2010
TeamsSuper Aguri, Spyker, HRT
Entries21 (21 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry2006 German Grand Prix
Last entry2010 Korean Grand Prix
Previous series
200708
200607, 2010
2005–06
200506
2003
2002
2001, 2004
2001
GP2 Series
Formula One
Super GT
Formula Nippon
F3 Euroseries
German F3
All-Japan F3
British F3

Sakon Yamamoto (山本 左近, Yamamoto Sakon, born 9 July 1982) is a Japanese racing driver. He competed in 21 Formula One Grands Prix during the 2006, 2007 and 2010 seasons.

Before Formula One[]

Yamamoto was born in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. He began his racing career in 1994 at the Suzuka Circuit Racing School (Karting), and worked his way up through the ranks, to become the test/third driver for the Jordan Formula One team for one weekend (Japan) during the 2005 Formula One season.

Formula One[]

Super Aguri (2006)[]

On 8 June 2006, Sakon Yamamoto joined the Super Aguri F1 team as their test driver and third driver on grand prix weekends, helping Takuma Sato and Franck Montagny in Friday's free practice sessions. Yamamoto replaced Montagny in the second team car at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim. He did not enjoy a particularly successful start to his career, however, with a mechanical failure and a stalled engine restricting him to a total of one lap in his first two races. He also damaged one of the team's new SA06 chassis in a crash during Free Practice at the German Grand Prix. He then spun out of his third Grand Prix in Turkey, a disappointment after outqualifying Sato for the first time.

Yamamoto driving the Super Aguri SA06 at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix where he set the 7th fastest lap of the race.

At the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Yamamoto had a major effect on the championship after suffering a tyre delamination during qualifying, which consigned him to last place on the grid. Later on in the session, Fernando Alonso punctured a tyre on debris from this incident, an occurrence which would eventually result in the points leader being penalised for blocking Felipe Massa and dropping from fifth to tenth on the grid. During the race, Yamamoto suffered hydraulic problems and had to start from the pit lane, eventually retiring when it became terminal.

At the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix, however, he finished for the first time, albeit four laps down in sixteenth place. After the race, his enjoyment was spoiled when Nick Heidfeld admonished him for an incident on the last lap which had dropped the German from 4th to 7th place. However, Heidfeld had mistaken Yamamoto for Sato, the driver who caused the incident, and apologised for his mistake before the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.[1]

Yamamoto finished the season strongly with three consecutive finishes, an upturn in form after retiring from his first four Grands Prix. He also set the seventh fastest lap and second fastest middle sector during the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix. However, this was not enough to prevent him losing out to Anthony Davidson in the race for the second Super Aguri race drive in 2007. However, he remained as a test driver at Super Aguri.[2] This was combined with him competing in the 2007 GP2 Series season with BCN Competicion.[3]

Spyker (2007)[]

Yamamoto driving for Spyker F1 at the 2007 Italian Grand Prix

With the departure of Christijan Albers from the Spyker F1 team after the 2007 British Grand Prix, a position on the grid became available. On 26 July 2007, after Markus Winkelhock filled the seat at the eventful 2007 European Grand Prix, Spyker confirmed that they hired Yamamoto from Super Aguri for the remainder of the 2007 Formula One season by Spyker.[4] During his first Grand Prix for Spyker at Hungary, he crashed out on lap 4. After that, he finished all the races in last position, except the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, where he finished ahead of Jarno Trulli, and in the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix where Giancarlo Fisichella crashed into him on the first laps. After the season ended, Yamamoto did not participate in any other event for the team.

Renault (2008)[]

It was announced on 4 February 2008 that Yamamoto would be one of the test drivers for the Renault F1 Team.[5] According to the press release, he would only drive the car in public demonstrations and not in circuit tests, with Lucas di Grassi and Romain Grosjean being announced as circuit test drivers at the launch of the Renault R28. sponsored Spyker F1 when Yamamoto was a driver, and it was announced at the R28 launch that Sanho Human Service would sponsor Renault in 2008.

Return to GP2 (2008–2009)[]

Yamamoto racing for ART Grand Prix in Sepang

Yamamoto made his return to the GP2 series halfway through the 2008 season, as the ART Grand Prix team elected to employ him in place of the underperforming Luca Filippi.[6] Finishing 4th in the sprint race at Hungaroring, he scored his first ever points in any racing class outside Japan.

Yamamoto kept his seat at ART for the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series where he was looking to emulate the success of Grosjean, who won the inaugural championship with the team. However, he was somewhat overshadowed by team-mates Nico Hülkenberg and Pastor Maldonado, but managed to finish 9th in the championship, with a podium at the opening race in Shanghai.

HRT (2010)[]

Yamamoto driving for Hispania Racing at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix

On 17 April 2010 the Hispania Racing team announced that Yamamoto would become the test and reserve driver for the team, and that he would drive the car in free practice sessions over the course of the 2010 season, helping Hispania develop their car.[7] He took part in his first practice session for the team at the Turkish Grand Prix where he set the slowest lap time of the session. On 8 July 2010 HRT team principal Colin Kolles announced that Yamamoto was to replace Bruno Senna for the British Grand Prix,[8] where he qualified 24th and last, he went on to finish 20th and last, just behind his team-mate Karun Chandhok. Yamamoto replaced Chandhok at the German Grand Prix,[9] where he retired after 19 laps with an engine problem. He kept this seat for the Hungarian Grand Prix,[10] in which he was lapped by his team-mate Senna. At the Italian Grand Prix, Yamamoto accelerated from the pits as a mechanic was fixing the radio connection to his helmet. His rear wing struck the mechanic resulting in him being taken to hospital where he stayed for 10 days before being discharged and returning home to Germany.[11] He was replaced at the Singapore Grand Prix by test driver Christian Klien after reportedly suffering food poisoning. He returned at the following race in Japan, finishing in 16th place, albeit last of the 16 cars to make the flag. He bettered this result by coming 15th in Korea, but was again replaced by Klien for the final two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.[12][13]

Virgin (2011)[]

On 23 March 2011, Marussia Virgin Racing announced that Yamamoto would be the team's reserve driver for the first three races of the 2011 season.[14]

Later career[]

Formula E[]

Yamamoto was called in to replace António Félix da Costa for the 2015 London ePrix. He raced for Amlin Aguri, partnering Salvador Duran. Round 10 saw Yamamoto qualify his car in 18th position but he retired from the race after a problem with the battery coming out of the pits. The next race saw him suffer a similar fate. He failed to set a time in qualifying after the tricky rain conditions caused him to hit the wall and then also retired from the race after running into the back of Jarno Trulli. He finished the season with no points and 35th and last in the standings.

Super Formula Lights[]

Yamamoto entered the last round of the 2020 Super Formula Lights at Fuji for B-Max, scoring a best finish of 7th in the third race.

After racing[]

Yamamoto has not raced since his Formula E outings, and has concentrated on a career in medicine and social welfare. In 2012 he became the head of a medical and social welfare corporation in Japan, with particular emphasis on improving the social welfare of the elderly. He also lectures and provides support to schools in the same field. He also still works in racing, in broadcasting and the media.[15]

Racing record[]

Career summary[]

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2001 All-Japan Formula 3 Championship TOM'S 18 0 0 0 5 117 4th
British Formula 3 Championship Team Avanti 4 0 0 0 0 0 25th
2002 German Formula 3 Championship GM Motorsport 17 0 0 0 0 0 20th
2003 Formula 3 Euro Series Superfund TME 20 0 0 0 0 0 27th
2004 All-Japan Formula 3 Championship TOM'S 20 1 0 4 4 131 7th
2005 Super GT TOM'S 8 1 0 0 1 43 7th
Formula Nippon Kondo Racing 9 0 0 0 1 9 10th
Formula One Jordan Grand Prix Test driver
2006 Formula One Super Aguri F1 7 0 0 0 0 0 26th
Super GT Nismo 3 0 0 0 1 15 21st
Formula Nippon Kondo Racing 3 0 0 0 0 3.5 11th
2007 GP2 Series BCN Competición 11 0 0 0 0 0 30th
Formula One Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 7 0 0 0 0 0 24th
2008 GP2 Series ART Grand Prix 10 0 0 0 0 3 23rd
Formula One ING Renault F1 Team Test driver
2008–09 GP2 Asia Series ART Grand Prix 11 0 0 0 1 13 9th
2010 Formula One Hispania Racing F1 Team 7 0 0 0 0 0 26th
2011 Formula One Marussia Virgin Racing Test driver
2014-15 Formula E Amlin Aguri 2 0 0 0 0 0 35th
2020 Super Formula Lights B-Max Racing 3 0 0 0 0 0 16th

Complete Formula Three Euro Series results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2003 Superfund TME Dallara F303/001 Toyota HOC
1

15
HOC
2

10
ADR
1

22
ADR
2

9
PAU
1

23†
PAU
2

18
NOR
1

Ret
NOR
2

11
LMS
1

9
LMS
2

26†
NÜR
1

19
NÜR
2

19
A1R
1

22
A1R
2

15
ZAN
1

Ret
ZAN
2

16
HOC
1

Ret
HOC
2

18
MAG
1

17
MAG
2

11
27th 0

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete Formula Nippon results[]

(key)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points
2005 Kondo Racing MOT
14
SUZ
Ret
SUG
Ret
FUJ
Ret
SUZ
4
MIN
8
FUJ
Ret
MOT
2
SUZ
11
10th 9
2006 Kondo Racing FUJ
6
SUZ
4
MOT
14
SUZ AUT FUJ SUG MOT SUZ 11th 3.5

‡ Race stopped earlier due to heavy rain. Only half-points were awarded.

Complete Super GT results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Pts
2005 Toyota Team TOM'S Toyota Supra GT500 OKA
6
FUJ
6
SEP
13
SUG
1
MOT
8
FUJ
7
AUT
Ret
SUZ
7
7th 43
2006 NISMO Nissan Fairlady Z GT500 SUZ
12
OKA
3
FUJ
9
SEP SUG SUZ MOT AUT FUJ 21st 15

Complete Formula One results[]

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 WDC Points
2005 Jordan Grand Prix Jordan EJ15B Toyota RVX-05 3.0 V10 AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN TUR ITA BEL BRA JPN
TD
CHN  –  –
2006 Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA05 Honda RA806E 2.4 V8 BHR MAL AUS SMR EUR ESP MON GBR
TD
CAN
TD
USA
TD
FRA
TD
26th 0
Super Aguri SA06 GER
Ret
HUN
Ret
TUR
Ret
ITA
Ret
CHN
16
JPN
17
BRA
16
2007 Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII Ferrari 056H 2.4 V8 AUS MAL BHR ESP MON CAN USA FRA GBR EUR HUN
Ret
TUR
20
24th 0
Spyker F8-VIIB ITA
20
BEL
17
JPN
12
CHN
17
BRA
Ret
2010 Hispania Racing F1 Team Hispania F110 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 BHR AUS MAL CHN ESP MON TUR
TD
CAN EUR GBR
20
GER
Ret
HUN
19
BEL
20
ITA
19
SIN JPN
16
KOR
15
BRA ABU 26th 0

Complete GP2 Series results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 DC Points
2007 BCN Competición BHR
FEA

11
BHR
SPR

14
CAT
FEA

9
CAT
SPR

18†
MON
FEA

Ret
MAG
FEA

11
MAG
SPR

13
SIL
FEA

16
SIL
SPR

Ret
NÜR
FEA

13
NÜR
SPR

11
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
IST
FEA
IST
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
30th 0
2008 ART Grand Prix CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
IST
FEA
IST
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
MAG
FEA
MAG
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HOC
FEA

12†
HOC
SPR

NC
HUN
FEA

10
HUN
SPR

4
VAL
FEA

Ret
VAL
SPR

Ret
SPA
FEA

18
SPA
SPR

Ret
MNZ
FEA

Ret
MNZ
SPR

Ret
23rd 3

Complete GP2 Asia Series results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
2008–09 ART Grand Prix SHI
FEA

3
SHI
SPR

14
DUB
FEA

8
DUB
SPR

C
BHR
FEA

17
BHR
SPR

11
LSL
FEA

Ret
LSL
SPR

14
SEP
FEA

12
SEP
SPR

Ret
BHR
FEA

6
BHR
SPR

4
9th 13

Complete Formula E results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Points
2014–15 Amlin Aguri Spark SRT01-e SRT01-e BEI PUT PDE BUE MIA LBH MCO BER MSC LDN
Ret
LDN
Ret
35th 0

References[]

  1. ^ ITV.com article Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 7 October 2006
  2. ^ "Super Aguri names Sakon Yamamoto as second test driver". Grandprix.com. 2006-12-27. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
  3. ^ "Yamamoto for BCN". Grandprix.com. 2007-01-18. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
  4. ^ "Spyker confirm Yamamoto deal". Autosport.com. 2007-07-26. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
  5. ^ "Yamamoto given Renault test drive". BBC.co.uk. 2008-02-04. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
  6. ^ "ART replace Filippi with Yamamoto". autosport.com. 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  7. ^ "Yamamoto gets Hispania test deal". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 2010-04-17. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
  8. ^ "Yamamoto to replace Senna in Britain". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 2010-07-08. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
  9. ^ McKenzie, Lee; Benson, Andrew (16 July 2010). "Hispania drop Karun Chandhok for German Grand Prix". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  10. ^ Elizalde, Pablo (2010-07-27). "Yamamoto keeps HRT seat for Hungary". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
  11. ^ "Injured Hispania engineer to leave hospital soon". BBC Sport. BBC. 2010-09-21. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  12. ^ Elizalde, Pablo (4 November 2010). "Klien replaces Yamamoto for Brazil". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  13. ^ Beer, Matt (10 November 2010). "Klien retains Hispania seat for Abu Dhabi". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  14. ^ Elizalde, Pablo (23 March 2011). "Yamamoto joins Virgin as reserve". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  15. ^ "Sakon Yamamoto". Old Racing Cars. Retrieved 3 November 2020.

External links[]

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