Michael Sauter (born 5 October 2004) is a German-Swiss racing driver of Japanese descent. He became the 2024 champion of the Formula Regional Japanese Championship.
Career
Karting Coming from a family with a racing background, Sauter started karting at the age of seven and began to compete in the Swiss Championship in 2013. He raced in go-karts until the end of 2020, winning the Vega Trofeo in 2014 and 2016 respectively, missing out on the chance of the 2015 title due to a ski accident.
Lower formulae
In 2021, after some Formula 4 testing at Anneau du Rhin, Sauter made his car racing debut, competing in a family effort with the Sauter Engineering + Design team, named after his father's company, in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship. In the final race of the second round at Circuit Zandvoort, Sauter scored his only rookie win of the season. He scored his first point in round three at the Hockenheimring, however a crash in qualifying at the next event at the Sachsenring meant extensive damage to his car, which could only be repaired in time for the second race with the help of other teams' mechanics. In the final race of the event, he went on to take his best finish of the season in fifth. Sauter became vice-champion in the rookie classification.
In 2022, Sauter remained in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship. He finished the championship in thirteenth overall.
In 2023, Sauter moved to the Formula 4 CEZ Championship after the ADAC Formula 4 had folded. He took his first and only race win in the final round at the newly opened Balaton Park Circuit. He also finished third overall in the championship.
Formula Regional Japanese Championship In 2023, Sauter also competed in two rounds of the Formula Regional Japanese Championship with Sutekina Racing Team and Bionic Jack Racing. In the final round at Sportsland Sugo, where he competed with Bionic Jack Racing, he took his first victory in the championship, having started from pole in the final race.
After joining the G Force Driver Development Program, Sauter returned to the Formula Regional Japanese Championship in 2024, driving for Birth Racing Project. Sauter won the championship, having claimed six race victories and four further podiums during the season.
Karting record
Karting career summary SeasonSeriesTeamPosition2013Schweizer Kart Meisterschaft — MiniSauter Team4th2014Vega Trofeo — Super Mini1stSchweizer Kart Meisterschaft — Super Mini15th2015Vega Trofeo — Super Mini9th2016Vega Trofeo — Super Mini1stSchweizer Kart Meisterschaft — Super Mini7th2017Vega Trofeo — Super Mini2ndSchweizer Kart Meisterschaft — Super Mini2ndIAME International Final — X30 Mini5th2018Vega Trofeo — Junior4thSchweizer Kart Meisterschaft — X30 Junior4thIAME International Final — X30 Junior101st2019Schweizer Kart Meisterschaft — X30 Challenge7thIAME International Final — X30 Senior131st
Racing record
Racing career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition2021ADAC Formula 4 ChampionshipSauter Engineering + Design 17 0 0 0 0 19 15th2022ADAC Formula 4 ChampionshipSauter Engineering + Design 18 0 0 0 0 41 13th 2023 Formula 4 CEZ Championship Sauter Engineering + Design 14 1 1 5 9 204 3rd Formula Regional Japanese Championship Sutekina Racing Team 3 0 0 0 0 71 6th Bionic Jack Racing312212024 Formula Regional Japanese Championship Birth Racing Project【BRP】 14 6 5 8 10 236 1st * Season still in progress.
Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearTeam123456789101112131415161718PosPoints2021 Sauter Engineering + DesignRBR1RBR2RBR3ZAN1ZAN2ZAN3HOC11HOC12HOC13SAC1SAC2SAC3HOC21HOC22HOC23NÜR1NÜR2NÜR3 15th 19 2022 Sauter Engineering + DesignSPA1SPA2SPA3HOC1HOC2HOC3ZAN1ZAN2ZAN3NÜR11NÜR12NÜR13LAU1LAU2LAU3NÜR21NÜR22NÜR23 13th 41
Complete Formula 4 CEZ Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points2023 Sauter Engineering + DesignHUN1HUN2RBR1RBR2SVK1SVK2MOS1MOS2MOS3BRN1BRN2BAL1BAL2BAL33rd204
Complete Formula Regional Japanese Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Points 2023 Sutekina Racing Team FUJ11 FUJ12 FUJ13 SUZ1 SUZ2 OKA1 OKA2 OKA3 MOT1 MOT2 MOT3 FUJ21 FUJ22 6th 71 Bionic Jack Racing SUG1 SUG2 SUG3 2024 Birth Racing Project 【BRP】 SUZ1 SUZ2 SUZ3 SUG1 SUG2 OKA1 OKA2 OKA3 MOT1 MOT2 FUJ11 FUJ12 FUJ21 FUJ22 1st 236
References
External links