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Takuma Sato: 'Formula 1 not as attractive today'

Former driver Takuma Sato says that, amid the category's obvious challenges, he still loves F1.

Former driver Takuma Sato has said that, amid the category's obvious challenges, he still loves Formula 1.

The Japanese, who is now a mainstay of America's top open-wheeler series Indycar, told Marca that he thinks F1 was better in his day.

"I do not see F1 as attractive as before," said the 39-year-old, who made his debut for Jordan in 2002 and raced until 2008 with Super Aguri.

"But I understand that today the economic situation and the sophisticated technology have changed things. The fans don't like them but I'm not totally against it because F1 is always a technological challenge that I love."

Sato, however, thinks Indycar boasts more "action on the track" than F1, because the cars are all similar.

"You can do a bad qualifying but still win the race because you can fight and overtake. In F1 this is much more complicated," he added.

"Yes, for the drivers [Indycar] is more fun, more exciting, but also for the engineers because there are many details. Formula 1 is very sophisticated and aerodynamically very efficient, but in Indycar on the ovals, the car has to be perfect. The average speed is very high so we focus on engineering the car more precisely than in formula one. Physically it is very similar, at least compared to my time in F1.

"What is certain is that F1 is fast on the straights but the cornering forces are lower than in Indycar, and this is multiplied on the ovals. We are at 6G now and I've never seen that in F1. There, you take a bend but in two seconds it's over, but on an oval it never seems to end."

The 2016 Formula 1 calendar continues with the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 3.

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