Planet-F1

Super Aguri

Monday 20th February 2006

Not since the 2002 season has Formula One had a completely new team line-up on the grid. That year was also the last time more than 10 teams took part in the Sunday afternoon grands prix.

However, that all changed last season with the arrival of Super Aguri, named after boss Aguri Suzuki.

F1's 11th team, an all-Japanese outfit with a Japanese engine courtesy of Honda and two Japanese drivers in Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide, faced a tough challenge in their debut season as they had so little preparation time.

With their entry into the championship only confirmed in January, and their driver line-up in mid-February, Super Aguri had to use a four-year old modified Arrows chassis for their first three F1 grands prix.

From the very first event the Super Aguri's struggled to match the pace of the rest of the grid and were quickly made aware of how far behind they were. While Ide failed to finish the race, retiring due to a mechanical failure, Sato ended down in 18th place.

The situation didn't improve for the team and in fact they were forced to sack Ide after he took out Albers' Midland on the opening lap at Imola.

The Japanese driver was replaced by Franck Montagny, and even though the former Renault tester had more pace and experience than his predecessor, he wasn't able to do much due the inferior quality of Super Aguri's F1 car.

Montagny also didn't last very long as he was replaced by Japan's Sakon Yamamoto at the German GP. Yamamoto's arrival also coincided with the debut of the team's new car, the SA06.

Teething problems with the new car, though, stalled the team's progress yet again and it wasn't until the Italian GP that Super Aguri finally got a handle on things. The Imola event even saw Sato beat the Midland of Albers to the checkered flag as both SA06s made it to the finish-line.

F1's newest team, though, had to wait until the final race of the season to secure their best result and best performance with Sato finishing in 10th place while Yamamoto set the seventh fastest race lap time.

It was a fine effort and, although 2006 didn't yield any points for the team, in the end it wasn't quite as bad as some had thought it would be.

F1's newest team, though, had to wait until the final race of the season to secure their best result and best performance with Sato finishing in 10th place while Yamamoto set the seventh fastest race lap time.

It was a fine effort and, although 2006 didn't yield any points for the team, in the end it wasn't quite as bad as some had thought it would be.

2007, the team's second season in F1, saw Sato partnering former Honda test driver Anthony Davidson. The team's season, though, got off on the wrong note when Super Aguri suffered a major setback when their car for 2007 failed the FIA crash test, with the rear of the car being destroyed more than is allowed.

The Japanese outfit pushed back the launch of its new car by two days, with the SA07 unveiled less than 48 hours before the first practice session for the Australian GP. But despite the intense pressure Davidson and Sato shocked many people with getting 10th and 11th place in qualifying for race. Until this, the best result in qualification set by this team was 17th place.

The team continued to show their fighting spirit, outpacing their Honda counterparts throughout the first half of the Championship. Points were also on offer as Sato clinched eighth place at the Spanish GP, partly benefiting from the high attrition rate which saw cars usually in the points drop out.

Nonetheless it was cause for celebration at Super Aguri, who a bystander may have thought had actually won the race. But to the team a point was a victory.

At the Canadian GP, the team scored its highest finish to that date, with Sato finishing sixth and garnering three points, passing defending World Champion Fernando Alonso on track en route. It the highlight of the team's season but was soon followed by rumours that Honda were no longer helping Super Aguri as they had promised to do.

As a result the team's performances hit a downward spiral and Super Aguri failed to finish in the top ten in any of the remaining 11 grands prix.

The off-season saw the beginning of rumours of financial woes for Super Aguri who were forced to pull out of some of the winter tests in order to save money. Talks of an imminent sale also gathered momentum, while the team's failure to confirm either Sato or Davidson for the 2008 season raised some concerns as to whether Super Aguri would even make the Australian GP grid.

However, with the recent news that Super Aguri's SA08 has passed its FIA crash tests, expect this little team to fight its way onto the grid and hopefully through to the end of the season.