In American open-wheel racing, Sato is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 and 2020, remaining the only Asian driver to win the event.

Amidst financial troubles, Super Aguri withdrew from the sport after the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix, ending both Sato and teammate Anthony Davidson's driving careers in Formula One.

He took his maiden pole position at the Iowa Corn Indy 250 in 2011, and became the first Asian driver to win an IndyCar race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2013 with Foyt.

His one-off entry in Formula E at the 2014 Beijing ePrix marked the first—and to this date, only—time that Sato competed without a Honda power unit in his professional career, using a spec McLaren powertrain.

Sato is a widely popular figure amongst fans and media worldwide, renowned for his aggressive driving style and motto "No Attack, No Chance".

With Honda's focus shifting solely to British American Racing for 2003, Sato joined the Brackley-based outfit as a test driver.

For the final round in Japan, Sato replaced Jacques Villeneuve and scored the second points finish of his career with sixth place, after a battle with Michael Schumacher.

During the 2004 season, Sato qualified four times in the top-three, including a front row start and an overall lap record at the European Grand Prix.

[2] Sato's aggressive driving style paid dividends at the United States Grand Prix, where, after the team did not pit under safety car conditions, Sato fought back with some daring overtaking moves to score his first podium finish and the first for a Japanese driver since Aguri Suzuki at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix.

At the Canadian Grand Prix, Sato finished sixth after having a race that had seen him move from the middle of the grid to a high of fifth, passing Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen before a pit-stop error dropped him back to eleventh.

[7][8] Financial problems began to affect the team in the off-season and the squad only just made it to the opening round of the 2008 season in Australia.

A transmission issue in Australia ended an opportunity to score points in a race of attrition, and 13th in Spain turned out to be Sato's best result of the season.

Due to the financial struggles, Super Aguri withdrew from Formula One after the Spanish Grand Prix, leaving Sato without a drive after four races in 2008.

In late 2008, Sato took part in tests at Jerez with Scuderia Toro Rosso, to become a candidate to fill the seat vacated by Sebastian Vettel.

[11] The race seat was eventually given to Bourdais, and in March 2009 it was announced that Sato would not be the reserve driver for the Red Bull team.

On 26 August 2017, it was reported that in 2018, Sato would rejoin RLL to drive the 30 car with Graham Rahal as his teammate as Andretti Autosport considered a move to Chevrolet in 2018.

After numerous weeks of bad luck including crashing early in the Indianapolis 500 and wrecking early at Pocono and a failed pit strategy at Gateway, Sato played the strategy right and held off Ryan Hunter-Reay in the IndyCar return to Portland, winning his third career race and his first on a permanent road course, doing so from 20th starting position.

Chip Ganassi Racing signed Sato to run in the oval rounds for the 2023 season, making it the first time the Japanese driver does not have a full-time IndyCar seat since 2010.

[24] Sato is a widely popular figure amongst fans and media, renowned for his aggressive driving style and motto "No Attack, No Chance".

[30] He lives in Carmel, Indiana with his manager, Steve Fusek, during the racing season, and spends the offseason in Japan.