F1: Goodbye Super Aguri

Poor Aguri Suzuki. In 2006, he achieved what had seemed impossible: he put together a viable Formula One team in a matter of a few weeks.

Within the past few days, the wheels have come off the little team that could, and it all came to an ignominious end with the team's trucks being turned away when they arrived at the Istanbul track for this weekend's race.

In 2007, running hand-me-down chassis from Honda and Honda customer engines, Super Aguri disgraced the factory team which had made a complete bollocks of the aerodynamics on their car with the result that it went slowly down the straights and went straight on when it should have gone round corners. In Canada, Super Aguri even got a point: almost unheard of for a team less than two years old.

Although officially a Japanese team, actually Super Aguri is, like most of the F1 paddock, in reality based in Oxfordshire in England. Their (by F1 standards) small works is in a small industrial part just outside Witney. By the beginning of 2007, there were 160 staff.

The team's technical director held a series of positions at Arrows - one of the most highly regarded teams in the paddock for achieving so much with so little - then went on to McLaren where he was the "principle designer - structures"

The chief designer, Peter McCool was an aerospace engineer who joined McLaren to work on aerodynamics and then went on to freelance designing for e.g. McLaren and Raynard until joining Super Aguri in 2006. McCool lives up to his name by declaring his hobbies as microlighting and gardening.

The head of aerodynamics, Ben Wood, worked, in succession, for Jordan, Fondmetal F1, Minardi, Yamaha, Ferrari GP, Tyrrell, Prost GP, Jaguar GP, an independent consultancy and then Super Aguri.

It was in the middle of 2007 that signs of financial difficulty crept in. Honda, which had let Super Aguri have its 2006 car (which in the hands of Button had gained more points than any other car in the last quarter of 2006) has denied that it had an attack of the miseries because the car that carried the Honda name nearest to the pointy end of the field not only had a livery that allowed the name to stand out but had it proudly displayed on the rear wing in huge red and white lettering. But when Super Aguri started to have problems paying its engine bills, Honda was not quite as supportive as was expected. Later this attitude changed significantly and Honda offered all kinds of accommodation to try to keep Super Aguri afloat.

But ultimately, Honda wants repayment of the estimated USD100 million that Super Aguri is said to owe it.

There was considerable uncertainty over whether Super Aguri would even start the 2008 season. With a few days go to, the team finally signed its drivers' contract and put the cars on the planes for Melbourne. But since then, the team has been living from hand to mouth, not that its performance gives much clue as to that.

For most races this season, both cars have finished the races - many top teams cannot say that. In Barcelona, Anthony Davidson was put out of the race by a punctured radiator but Takuma Sato finished 13th. That was the last of the runners but he was not disgraced.

On 16th April, a lifeline thrown by Magma Group was yanked away. Another venture capital firm had looked at F1 and decided not to play. Honda had liked the deal - it would have provided repayment of their debt in full. But there was one other possibility: German automotive parts group WEIGL Group AG publicly announced that they were the potential purchasers whose identity had been kept secret for a variety of legal and other reasons. But as soon as the news was out, Honda went public with an opinion that the proposed deal was not workable because it would guarantee the team funding for just one year, but proposed repaying Honda over three years.

On Monday, the official Formula One website carried an article with Taku. The trucks had arrived at the Istanbul paddock for next Sunday's race and were refused entry. Apparently someone had told Formula One Management that the team would not be racing. That was a surprise to both the drivers of the trucks and the drivers of the cars. The full story has yet to come out but there are so far unconfirmed rumours that Honda had made it clear that it had had enough and that the collapse of the Magma deal was the last straw. No money, no engines; no engines no race appears to be the formula. By Tuesday, the deal with WEIGL was dead and Aguri met Honda in Japan. The time difference meant that his Tuesday had already turned to mush by the time Europe woke up and the announcement to the team was made in England and Turkey before official statements were made.

Super Aguri's problems began when main sponsor SS United Oil and Gas yanked their money half way through the 2007 season. Aguri has been quoted as saying "the breach of contract by the promised partner SS United Oil & Gas Company resulted in the loss of financial backing and immediately put the team into financial difficulties. Also, the change in direction of the environment surrounding the team, in terms of the use of customer chassis, has affected our ability to find partners." This last comment was due to protests by other teams who argued that the Super Aguri was really a Honda in disguise and therefore not permitted by the rules.

Yesterday, Aguri-san issued a statement (reproduced in full below) and the team's trucks were ordered back to Witney. He paid tribute to Honda for their help in keeping the team going for so long. Honda issued its own statement making it quite clear that there was no ill will and that the reality was simply that the end of the road had been reached - and Aguri recognised the impossibility of his situation.

Today, the Witney headquarters is a desperate place. Just as it was in 2002 when the Arrows team ceased its operations at the same building. There were a few 2002 Arrows chassis around - owned by Minardi boss Paul Stoddart who was packing up that the end of 2005. Incredibly, it was those 2002 chassis that got Super Aguri to the grid for the start of 2006. The team recruited several former Arrows people who had been scattered across - and out of - motorsport.

The team was never Honda II in the way that Torro Rosso is Red Bull II. But Honda put its weight behind it because of a chain reaction started with they decided not to renew Sato's contract in order to keep Button and to woo Barrichello from Ferrari. That left F1 with two Japanese branded teams but no Japanese drivers. So when Aguri suggested a Japanese branded team with Japanese drivers, Honda thought it was a great idea. But Ide, the number two driver was so awful that his licence was suspended after just a few races and Anthony Davidson was brought in alongside Sato.

It's all rather sad and smacks of history repeating itself. As it did with Jordan / Midland / Spyker.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: venture capitalists and Formula One really don't mix.

Super Aguri Statement:

Super Aguri Formula One Team has today announced its withdrawal from the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Participating in Formula One since the 2006 season, the Team, which scored its first championship points after only 22 races (Spanish Grand Prix, 2007) and finished ninth overall in the 2007 Constructors’ Championship, will cease all activities as of 6th May 2008.

Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal, SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM

“In order to realise my dream to become an owner of a Formula One Team, I applied for a grid position in the FIA Formula One World Championship in November 2005. Since then, I have participated in the championship for 2 years and 4 months as the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM, but regretfully I must inform you that the team will be ceasing its racing activities as of today.

The team has competed against the many car manufacturer backed teams and has succeeded in obtaining the first points after only the 22nd race finishing in 9th place overall in the 2007 Constructors’ Championship. However, the breach of contract by the promised partner SS United Group Company Limited resulted in the loss of financial backing and immediately put the team into financial difficulties. Also, the change in direction of the environment surrounding the team, in terms of the use of customer chassis, has affected our ability to find partners.

Meanwhile, with the help of Honda, we have somehow managed to keep the team going, but we find it difficult to establish a way to continue the activities in the future within the environment surrounding F1 and as a result, I have concluded to withdraw from the Championship.

I would like to express my deepest thanks to Honda, Bridgestone, the sponsors, all the people who have given us advise during various situations over the past couple of years all the Team Staff who have kept their motivations high and always done their best, Anthony Davidson who has always pushed to the limit despite the very difficult conditions, Takuma Sato who has been with us from the very start and has always fought hard and led the team and lastly our fans from all over the world who have loyally supported the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM."

Honda Statement: At the beginning of the 2008 season, when the team started negotiations with the strong candidate MAGMA Group, Honda has actively cooperated by proposing many forms of support. Just when we thought the three groups have reached an agreement, we were told that MAGMA and their financial backers had decided not to pursue the deal. Honda has continued to support the team as much as possible but Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal has come to Honda and expressed his decision to withdraw from Formula One as he is not capable of establishing a foundation for independent operation of the team. The Super Aguri F1 Team's withdrawal is indeed very disappointing for us but we understand that it was inevitable unless the team could find a way to stand alone by itself in the future. We would like to express our thankfulness to the Super Aguri F1 Team and all the fans who have supported them for sharing the dreams and fighting together with Honda.