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Super Aguri F1
Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from 2006 to 2008. 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. The cars were referred to as Super Aguri Hondas, with the team functioning to some degree as an unofficial Honda 'B'-team. After participating in the championship for 2 years and 4 months, the team withdrew from F1 after 4 races in the 2008 season due to financial difficulties. Throughout the team's time in the sport, it scored four points, all of which were scored by Takuma Sato during the 2007 season.
Honda had completed the buyout of British American Racing at the end of 2005, keeping Jenson Button as lead driver, but displacing Takuma Sato in favor of Rubens Barrichello after Sato scored only a single point that year, which was his second full season with the team. In Japan, public pressure and Sato's continued popularity persuaded Honda to help Sato continue to compete in Formula One. This was influential in the creation of Super Aguri's F1 project and the engine supply from Super Aguri's official partner Honda.
Talks to start the team began in February 2005, but it was not until September that plans started to take shape. The team registered its intention to enter the Formula One World Championship to the FIA, Formula One's governing body, on 1 November (ahead of the governing body's 15 November deadline). However, the FIA's official press release of the entry list for 2006 confirmed that it had not approved Super Aguri's entry: this was reported to be due to the team's failure to produce the required $48 million entry bond on time. The team re-applied for entry in 2006, and continued to prepare cars for the upcoming season. Having missed the initial registration, the team needed to convince the existing ten teams to unanimously agree to its entry. It appeared that the Midland team was blocking on the grounds of potentially reduced TV revenue, but it was eventually granted the necessary unanimous agreement and the team's entry was confirmed by the FIA on 26 January 2006.
In 2006, the cars were powered by customer Honda engines (RA806E 2.4 V8) by a pay lease from its own works team, and used Bridgestone tyres. The chassis, SA05, was an updated version of the 2002 Arrows A23, bought from ex-Minardi principal Paul Stoddart who purchased them when the Arrows team went into receivership. As such, the team's car, infrastructure and operating base had its origins with TWR Arrows. Underlining the links to the former team, the technical side was overseen by former Arrows engineer Mark Preston, who brought many of the old Arrows mechanics back with him. The team had announced plans to produce a new in-house chassis later on in the 2006 season, possibly for the European races, but this never came into fruition. Instead, the team updated their older chassis to become the SA06 – a change which was visible from the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, onwards.
Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide were the initial race drivers for the team in the 2006 season, with Franck Montagny as the third driver. Ide's selection was seen as unusual due to his age (the oldest F1 rookie at 31 years), lack of European racing experience, and not speaking English.
The team made it onto the grid for the start of the season. In its debut race at Bahrain, Sato successfully completed the Grand Prix while Ide retired on lap 35 with a mechanical failure and after nearly running over his pit crew. Suzuki deemed this race to be a good test for the team as the car had only done a maximum of 10 laps during pre-season testing. The team's second race (in Malaysia) was little better, with again only Sato finishing the race.
Super Aguri's third race, the Australian Grand Prix, saw significant improvement. Ide said "This is the first time that both Taku and I have finished a race, so I am happy about that."
At the San Marino Grand Prix, Ide was involved in a collision with Midland driver Christijan Albers, sending Albers into a series of rolls. Ide was reprimanded by the race stewards. For the European Grand Prix, Ide and Montagny swapped roles within the team with Ide being demoted to test driver, at the request of the FIA. On 10 May 2006, the FIA Permit Office revoked Ide's Super Licence, preventing his return to an F1 seat until at least the 2007 season.
Super Aguri F1
Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from 2006 to 2008. 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. The cars were referred to as Super Aguri Hondas, with the team functioning to some degree as an unofficial Honda 'B'-team. After participating in the championship for 2 years and 4 months, the team withdrew from F1 after 4 races in the 2008 season due to financial difficulties. Throughout the team's time in the sport, it scored four points, all of which were scored by Takuma Sato during the 2007 season.
Honda had completed the buyout of British American Racing at the end of 2005, keeping Jenson Button as lead driver, but displacing Takuma Sato in favor of Rubens Barrichello after Sato scored only a single point that year, which was his second full season with the team. In Japan, public pressure and Sato's continued popularity persuaded Honda to help Sato continue to compete in Formula One. This was influential in the creation of Super Aguri's F1 project and the engine supply from Super Aguri's official partner Honda.
Talks to start the team began in February 2005, but it was not until September that plans started to take shape. The team registered its intention to enter the Formula One World Championship to the FIA, Formula One's governing body, on 1 November (ahead of the governing body's 15 November deadline). However, the FIA's official press release of the entry list for 2006 confirmed that it had not approved Super Aguri's entry: this was reported to be due to the team's failure to produce the required $48 million entry bond on time. The team re-applied for entry in 2006, and continued to prepare cars for the upcoming season. Having missed the initial registration, the team needed to convince the existing ten teams to unanimously agree to its entry. It appeared that the Midland team was blocking on the grounds of potentially reduced TV revenue, but it was eventually granted the necessary unanimous agreement and the team's entry was confirmed by the FIA on 26 January 2006.
In 2006, the cars were powered by customer Honda engines (RA806E 2.4 V8) by a pay lease from its own works team, and used Bridgestone tyres. The chassis, SA05, was an updated version of the 2002 Arrows A23, bought from ex-Minardi principal Paul Stoddart who purchased them when the Arrows team went into receivership. As such, the team's car, infrastructure and operating base had its origins with TWR Arrows. Underlining the links to the former team, the technical side was overseen by former Arrows engineer Mark Preston, who brought many of the old Arrows mechanics back with him. The team had announced plans to produce a new in-house chassis later on in the 2006 season, possibly for the European races, but this never came into fruition. Instead, the team updated their older chassis to become the SA06 – a change which was visible from the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, onwards.
Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide were the initial race drivers for the team in the 2006 season, with Franck Montagny as the third driver. Ide's selection was seen as unusual due to his age (the oldest F1 rookie at 31 years), lack of European racing experience, and not speaking English.
The team made it onto the grid for the start of the season. In its debut race at Bahrain, Sato successfully completed the Grand Prix while Ide retired on lap 35 with a mechanical failure and after nearly running over his pit crew. Suzuki deemed this race to be a good test for the team as the car had only done a maximum of 10 laps during pre-season testing. The team's second race (in Malaysia) was little better, with again only Sato finishing the race.
Super Aguri's third race, the Australian Grand Prix, saw significant improvement. Ide said "This is the first time that both Taku and I have finished a race, so I am happy about that."
At the San Marino Grand Prix, Ide was involved in a collision with Midland driver Christijan Albers, sending Albers into a series of rolls. Ide was reprimanded by the race stewards. For the European Grand Prix, Ide and Montagny swapped roles within the team with Ide being demoted to test driver, at the request of the FIA. On 10 May 2006, the FIA Permit Office revoked Ide's Super Licence, preventing his return to an F1 seat until at least the 2007 season.