With a media statement and at a news conference, Super Aguri on Tuesday announced that it is withdrawing from formula one and ceasing “all activities” with immediate effect.
The struggling Japanese team was in dire need of financial support, but it is understood that the Honda executive board in Tokyo rejected the proposed partial buyout by the German automotive company Weigl.
“Regretfully I must inform you that the team will be ceasing its racing activities as of today,” team boss and co-owner Aguri Suzuki said.
The team’s spare parts and motor home trucks will now return to Leafield, after they were locked out of the Istanbul Park circuit on the order of Honda Racing’s Nick Fry and F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.
Suzuki said his Leafield based outfit, backed by Honda since its inception in 2006, was plunged into crisis by the shock withdrawal of sponsor SS United last year.
“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,” he added.
The news leaves drivers Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson without places on the F1 grid, and only ten teams and twenty starters for Sunday’s Turkish grand prix and beyond.
