Strongest show yet from Sato.

A Michael Schumacher win in the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring was more or less expected, but it was Takuma Sato who very much shared the glory with the six-time World Champion in Germany after a mesmerising performance in his BAR-Honda. Once again the Japanese brought his unique brand of 'maximum excitement' to the show, and once again he was left out of luck due to a bout of mechanical problems.

The first practice day was frustrating for Sato. "It was quite a difficult start," he said. "The track on Friday was a complete disaster - it was so slippery. At Monaco with it being street track that's understandable, but the Nurburgring is a normal, permanent racing circuit. I expected more grip, but the cars were all over the place for everyone. Instead of set-up work we had to concentrate on tyres, and Anthony did a good job in the third BAR. I wasn't too strong that day, but even so my engineer Jock Clear and I worked very hard and we kept gaining speed every minute so that by Saturday afternoon we were really in a good shape."

That paid off going into the pre-qualifying session, when Taku's devastating lap proved the fastest of the weekend, the second time he has managed that at a grand prix this season. Unfortunately he was forced to play second fiddle in qualifying proper to Schumacher's Ferrari, but the magnitude of Sato's performance became clear during the first 15 minutes of the grand prix itself - of the frontrunners, only Rubens Barrichello was carrying more fuel than Taku.

"I was absolutely satisfied with my lap. There were no mistakes, from Turn 1 to the end, and looking at my situation it was perfect. Obviously Michael's pole position time was truly stunning and we could never have matched that speed, but with him pitting on lap eight and me on lap 11 it's more understandable now. To be on the front row with him was good, and with Jarno Trulli and Kimi Raikkonen (Renault and McLaren respectively) behind me, every team was up there. It was great to be back on the front row - my first time since Macau in 2001!"

Sato lost some ground at the start though. At first he looked as though he may even drop to fourth, but an inspired move and brilliant judgment at the first corner saw him reclaim second, right behind Schumacher. "Our clutch-control system was banned by the FIA," said Taku, "so we needed a different clutch-mapping system. Plus I was on the dusty side of the track for the first time this year, so I knew it would be a struggle. Kimi nearly overtook me and Trulli catapulted in front, but I never back off or give up. Into Turn 1 I was very confident - it was very close judgment but it was good and I was completely in control.

"Jarno was behind me, and at Turn 4 I don't know what happened. I couldn't see anything in my mirror - he must have been in my blind spot. We just touched and both slowed down a bit, and Kimi and Fernando Alonso both went through."

While Schumacher sprinted away, Sato was therefore stuck in fourth place for the first stint, with Raikkonen holding up a large train of cars, including the two-stopping Barrichello, who thanks to the McLaren cork in the bottle was able to stay tight behind Sato. That would prove crucial... Even so, once Raikkonen and Alonso pitted, Sato was able to set a scorching pace in clear air to put him ahead of all bar the Ferraris once he had completed his later pitstop.

"Kimi cost us a little bit and I knew Rubens was catching, but once the traffic cleared my lap times improved a lot and I pushed and pushed and pushed the whole way through the race. I knew I had to fight with Rubens timewise and I was battling him all the way. Jock was telling me all the times and the team did brilliant pit work."

After the last stop, made with 16 laps remaining, Sato rejoined the track just behind Barrichello and instantly set about trying to claim second from the Brazilian. "I had to attack really hard. I had brand new tyres with a lot of grip and I knew I had only one chance because the tyre wouldn't last this amount of grip after the first lap. So I was catching Barrichello throughout the first lap out of the pits. I could see him sliding in the last corner, and my traction was really good. I knew I could do it...

"When he got to the first corner, to me he braked incredibly early. I just drove in - I was totally in control, never locked up, had no tyre smoke or anything, but to me he looked totally surprised that I was there and unfortunately we touched. Honestly, I could do it - I just don't think he knew I was there."

While Barrichello continued unscathed, Sato was forced to pit to replace a broken front wing and dropped to fifth, just ahead of Alonso. Two laps later it didn't matter anyway, because a huge cloud of smoke heralded an engine failure.

"At least it was a good strong race, the pace was there and I could be really committed. But the engine blow-ups are unacceptable now - that's four races out of seven. I think Honda is now looking heavily into what is the problem. Ten or 15 years ago drivers could over-rev the engines, but now everything is controlled electronically and drivers cannot break the engines. It's not a coincidence now - this is just too much. We have to find the problem and just go on. There was no indication before the blow-up - everything was perfect and then all of a sudden, big bang."

Still, Sato heads to the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks' time confident that he can run at a front running pace, battling it out with the Ferraris. "We are testing at Silverstone for three days this week, testing a different spec update on the engine. One of the Honda guys has promised this will not happen again! Now I have to be really positive. We will be very strong, Honda has a commitment on the power and our car is good under braking - that should suit the stop-and-go Montreal circuit very well..."

Finally, Sato at least ended the Nurburgring weekend by being elected as Driver of the Day by respected ITV pundit and F1 driving veteran Martin Brundle, a sure sign that he has earned the respect of the establishment! "To me, that is worth more than a GP point!" grinned Taku.