Marino Sato has signed full-time with Trident for the 2020 FIA Formula 2 (F2) Championship for 2020 after two rounds in 2019.
Sato made his F2 debut in 2019 with Campos Racing and then tested for Trident in Abu Dhabi test. The Japanese was pipped heavily to race for the Italian outfit in 2020, which has been confirmed as it completes the full grid.
Although Trident are yet to confirm Williams test driver Roy Nissany but the Israeli is to race in F2 with them in 2020. “I’m happy to be joining the Italian squad for Formula 2 in the 2020 season,” said Sato, a winner of the 2019 Euroformula Open title.
“I really appreciate everyone who’s involved to make this happen. To be racing in here will mean a lot for me, and of course for the future as well so can’t wait to get started.” At the same time, team manager Giacomo Ricci added:
“Marino Sato is a young driver with limited experience in a very competitive championship like FIA Formula 2. Our technical staff was positively impressed by the quality of his work in the post-season test carried out at Yas Marina last December and will provide its best efforts to help him grow up during the season.
“In the first days of March, the series will line-up for a pre-season test session at Sakhir circuit. The Bahraini venue will also host the series opener on the 21st and 22nd of March. It will be very important to do a good job with Marino to start the championship in a positive fashion.”
Team owner Maurizio Salvadori added: “We are very happy to announce that Marino Sato will compete for Team Trident in the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship. Marino is a very professional racer with great talent.
“His recent, overwhelming, success in the Euroformula Open shows that Marino knows the art of winning races, a talent that only a few pilots have. I am sure that he will keep growing and improving under the Team Trident banner, and conquer the most ambitious goals.”
2020 F2 line-up so far:
Prema: Mick Schumacher and Robert Shwartzman
HWA Racelab: Artem Markelov and Giuliano Alesi
ART Grand Prix: Marcus Armstrong and Christian Lundgaard
UNI-Virtuosi Racing: Callum Ilott and Guanyu Zhou
DAMS: Daniel Ticktum and Sean Gelael
MP Motorsport: Felipe Drugovich and Nobuharu Matsushita
Carlin: Yuki Tsunoda and Jehan Daruvala
Hitech GP: Luca Ghiotto and Nikita Mazepin
Campos Racing: Jack Aitken and Guilherme Samaia
Trident: Marino Sato
Here’s the test dates for F2 in 2020
Here’s details on the race numbers to used with no #19
Here’s the links to the five episodes of F2: Chasing The Dream docu
Here’s details on the changed F2 and F3 regulation for 2020