is a Japanese former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

and politician, who competed in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

between and . Yamamoto was a member of the

House of Representatives of Japan The is the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors is the upper house. The composition of the House is established by and of the Constitution of Japan. The House of Representatives has 465 members, elected for a fo ...

from 2021 to 2024, representing Tōkai PR for the

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

Before Formula One

Yamamoto was born in

Toyohashi is a Cities of Japan, city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 377,453 in 160,516 households and a population density of 1,400 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . By area, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefec ...

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

. He began his racing career in 1994 at the

Suzuka Circuit The , the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka, Mie, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda, Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. It is most well known by i ...

Racing School (

Karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

), and worked his way up through the ranks, to become the test/third driver for the

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

team for one weekend (

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

) during the

2005 Formula One season The 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 59th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 56th FIA Formula One World Championship, contested over a then-record 19 Grands Prix. It commenced on 6 March 2005 and ended 1 ...

Formula One

Super Aguri (2006)

On 8 June 2006, Sakon Yamamoto joined the

Super Aguri F1 Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from to . The team, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was based in Tokyo, Japan, but operated from the former Arrows factory at the Leafield Technical Centre, Oxfordshire, England. ...

team as their

test driver In motorsport it is common to have one or more test drivers who work with the mechanics to help develop the vehicle by testing new systems on the track. In specific motorsports Formula One In Formula One, the term third driver is used to designa ...

and third driver on grand prix weekends, helping

Takuma Sato is a Japanese racing driver, who competes part-time in the IndyCar Series for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato competed in Formula One from to . In American open-wheel racing, Sato is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 a ...

and

Franck Montagny Franck Montagny (born 5 January 1978) is a French former racing driver. He briefly raced for the Super Aguri Formula One team in 2006. Early career Born in Feurs, Loire, Montagny started racing karts there in 1988, winning the cadet class in th ...

in Friday's free practice sessions. Yamamoto replaced Montagny in the second team car at the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix () was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history: the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hockenheimring in B ...

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 Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, a disappointment after outqualifying Sato for the first time. Sakon Yamamoto 2006 Brazil

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 Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...

punctured a tyre on debris from this incident, an occurrence which would eventually result in the points leader being penalised for blocking

Felipe Massa Felipe Massa (; born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for TMG Racing, TMG and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Riley Technologies, Riley. Massa competed in Formula One from to , and w ...

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 Nick Lars Heidfeld (; born 10 May 1977) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Heidfeld began competitive kart racing aged 11. He progressed to Formu ...

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 The 2006 Japanese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2006 Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One race held on 8 October 2006 at the Suzuka Circuit, in Suzuka, Japan. It was the seventeenth and penultimate round of the 200 ...

. 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 The 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2006) was a Formula One motor race held on 22 October 2006 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo. It was the eighteenth and final race of the 2006 FIA Form ...

. However, this was not enough to prevent him losing out to

Anthony Davidson Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One between and . In endurance racing, Davidson won the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2014 with Toyota. Born in Hem ...

in the race for the second Super Aguri race drive in 2007. However, he remained as a test driver at

Super Aguri Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from to . The team, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was based in Tokyo, Japan, but operated from the former Arrows factory at the Leafield Technical Centre, Oxfordshire, England. ...

. This was combined with him competing in the

2007 GP2 Series season The 2007 GP2 Series season was the forty-first season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also third season under the GP2 Series moniker. The series began on 14 April at Bahrain. Timo Glock was crowned series champion on 30 ...

with

BCN Competicion BCN may refer to: Places * Barcelona El Prat Airport, IATA code * an abbreviation for the city of Barcelona * Port of Barcelona, by shortened form of the UN/LOCODE ESBCN without the country prefix * Baja California Baja California, official ...

Spyker (2007)

With the departure of

Christijan Albers Christijan Albers () (born 16 April 1979) is a Dutch former professional racing driver. After success in the DTM he drove in Formula One from until the 2007 British Grand Prix, shortly after which he was dropped by the Spyker F1 team. In 200 ...

from the

Spyker F1 The Spyker F1 Team, known as the Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team for sponsorship reasons, was a Formula One team that competed in the 2007 Formula One World Championship with a Dutch licence. It was created by Spyker Cars after their buyout of t ...

team after the 2007 British Grand Prix, a position on the grid became available. On 26 July 2007, after

Markus Winkelhock Markus Winkelhock (; born 13 June 1980) is a German professional racing driver. He is the son of Manfred Winkelhock and nephew of Joachim Winkelhock, both of whom were Formula One drivers in the 1980s. During his brief Formula One career he led th ...

filled the seat at the eventful

2007 European Grand Prix The 2007 European Grand Prix (formally the 2007 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany on 22 July 2007. It was the tenth race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 60- ...

, Spyker confirmed that they hired Yamamoto from Super Aguri for the remainder of the

2007 Formula One season The 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 61st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It began on 18 March and ended on 21 October after seventeen events. The Drivers' Championship was won by Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen by one ...

by Spyker. During his first Grand Prix for Spyker at

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, he crashed out on lap 4. After that, he finished all the races in last position, except the

2007 Japanese Grand Prix The 2007 Japanese Grand Prix (officially the 2007 Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 30 September 2007 at the Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Shizuoka. The 67-lap race was the fifteenth round of the 2007 FI ...

, where he finished ahead of

Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Trulli won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix with Renault in Formula One, Renault. He regularly competed in Formula ...

, and in the

2007 Brazilian Grand Prix The 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2007) was a Formula One motor race held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil on 21 October 2007. The 71-lap race was the seventeenth and final r ...

where

Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo "Giano" Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Fisichella won three Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Bo ...

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 Renault, a French automobile manufacturer, has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the Turbocharger ...

. According to the press release, he would only drive the car in public demonstrations and not in circuit tests, with

Lucas di Grassi Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Lola Yamaha ABT. In formula racing, di Grassi competed in Formula One in , and won the 2016–17 Formula E Championship with Abt. In endu ...

and

Romain Grosjean Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a French and Swiss racing driver, who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Lamborghini and serves as a reserve driver in the IndyCar Series for Prema. Grosjean competed under ...

being announced as circuit test drivers at the launch of the

Renault R28 The Renault R28 is a Formula One racing car, with which Renault F1 contested the 2008 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by Bob Bell, James Allison, Tim Densham and Dino Toso with Pat Symonds overseeing the design and production of ...

. Sanho Human Service 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 made his return to the GP2 series halfway through the 2008 season, as the

ART Grand Prix ART Grand Prix is a French motor racing team that competes in formula single-seaters in Europe. In 2012, it competed in the GP2 Series and GP3 Series as Lotus GP to reflect sponsorship from British sports and racing car manufacturer Lotus. The ...

team elected to employ him in place of the underperforming

Luca Filippi Luca Filippi (born 9 August 1985 in Savigliano, Italy) is an Italian former auto racing driver. He competed in GP2 Series from 2006 to 2012, and the IndyCar Series from 2013 to 2016. In 2008 he was the official Honda Racing F1 test driver. Career ...

. Finishing 4th in the sprint race at

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtai ...

, 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 The 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season was the second season of the GP2 Asia Series. It began on 18 October 2008 and ended on 26 April 2009 and consisted of eleven races at six events. Season summary All teams from the 2008 GP2 Series season e ...

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 Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German racing driver who competes in Formula One for Sauber. In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Hülkenberg won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2015 with Por ...

and

Pastor Maldonado Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (; born 9 March 1985) is a Venezuelan former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Maldonado won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix with Williams. After winning the GP2 Series in 2010 with Rapax, Maldona ...

, but managed to finish 9th in the championship, with a podium at the opening race in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

HRT (2010)

Sakon Yamamoto 2010 Japan 2nd Free Practice

On 17 April 2010 the

Hispania Racing HRT Formula 1 Team, formerly known as Campos Racing, Campos Meta 1 and Hispania Racing, was a Spanish Formula One team founded by former driver Adrián Campos. It was sold to José Ramón Carabante before its debut in 2010 Formula One season ...

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. He took part in his first practice session for the team at the 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 Bruno Senna Lalli (; born 15 October 1983) is a Brazilian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing, Senna won the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class with Rebellion. Born and raised ...

for the , where he qualified 24th and last, he went on to finish 20th and last, just behind his team-mate

Karun Chandhok Karun Chandhok (; born 19 January 1984) is an Indian former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One at 11 Grands Prix from to . Chandhok also competed in Formula E for Mahindra Racing. Previously, Chandhok has competed fo ...

. Yamamoto replaced Chandhok at the , where he retired after 19 laps with an engine problem. He kept this seat for the , in which he was lapped by his team-mate Senna. At the , 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 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He was replaced at the by test driver

Christian Klien Christian Klien (born 7 February 1983) is an Austrian racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . Born and raised in Hohenems, Klien competed in Formula One for Jaguar, Red Bull and HRT, scoring 14 championship points across 51 ...

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 Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, but was again replaced by Klien for the final two races in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

Virgin (2011)

On 23 March 2011,

Marussia Marussia Motors ( ) was a Russian sports car company founded in 2007. It was the first Russian company to produce a supercar. It designed, and manufactured prototypes of both the B1 and the B2 sport cars. Marussia was led by former motor racer Ni ...

Virgin Racing Virgin Racing (subsequently Marussia Virgin Racing) was a Formula One racing team which was under management of Manor Motorsport, Wirth Research and Richard Branson's Virgin Group and competed in with a List of Formula One constructors#Team's ...

announced that Yamamoto would be the team's reserve driver for the first three races of the season.

Later career

Formula E

Yamamoto was called in to replace

António Félix da Costa António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portugal, Portuguese professional racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and the 2019–20 Formula E Championship, 2019–20 Formul ...

for the

2015 London ePrix The 2015 London ePrix, officially known as the 2015 Visa London ePrix, was two Formula E motor races that took place on the 27 and 28 June 2015 on the Battersea Park Street Circuit in Battersea Park, London. It was the tenth and eleventh rounds of ...

. He raced for

Amlin Aguri Team Aguri, formerly Amlin Aguri and officially the Team Aguri Formula E Team, was an international motor racing team founded by former Formula One and 24 Hours of Le Mans driver Aguri Suzuki (Executive Chairman) and Mark Preston (Team Principal) ...

, partnering

Salvador Duran Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

. 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

. 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 The 2020 Super Formula Lights Championship was the first Super Formula Lights Championship season, after the Japanese Formula 3 Championship was rebranded following the end of the 2019 season. It was rebranded because of FIA nomenclature regulati ...

at Fuji for B-Max, scoring a best finish of 7th in the third race.

After racing

Yamamoto has not raced regularly 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. On 31 October 2021 he was elected to the Japanese House of Representatives.

Racing record