Japanese driver reflects on demise of Super Aguri.
Takuma Sato has admitted he is sad and disappointed by the news that the Super Aguri F1 team is to withdraw from the Formula 1 World Championship with immediate effect.
The team was set up ahead of the 2006 season with Sato leading the driver line-up alongside fellow Japanese racer Yuji Ide for the start of the team's debut campaign.
While a number of other drivers filled the second seat after Ide departed the F1 scene, with Briton Anthony Davidson coming in for the 2007 campaign, Sato competed in each of the teams 39 races.
Having started its first year with an outdated Arrows chassis, the team ended its maiden season on a high as Sato broke into the top ten for the first time in the final round of the year in Brazil, and there was more to come in 2007 as the Japanese racer qualified inside the top ten for the opening round in Australia.
A first point followed in Spain before the dramatic Canadian Grand Prix where Sato diced with world champion Fernando Alonso before finishing sixth - securing the team's best finish and what would be its final championship point.
Although Super Aguri battled to make it onto the grid for the start of 2008, the collapse of a takeover deal with the Magma Group and the withdrawal of support from Honda proved to be too much for the team to continue, and after securing a season's best of 13th in the Spanish GP, the announcement finally came earlier this week that the team is no more.
"What can I say except that I am so sad and disappointed that the Super Aguri F1 team has had to withdraw from F1," Sato reflected. "I realised that the situation for the team was very difficult but I really hoped that all the parties involved would find a solution. Unfortunately, for whatever reasons, this has not happened...
"With all the problems going on I have just tried to stay optimistic and focus on supporting the team in any way I can.
"Super Aguri has always been a small team but with a big heart and mega spirits. Every single person at Leafield did the most amazing job when the team started two and a half years ago by getting us to the grid in just four months, finishing in the top ten in our very first year and scoring four points last season. They are a group of real professionals who can do almost the impossible.
"I have massive respect for everything that Aguri-san has done for us; he has worked so hard to keep things going. I will also never forget all the team members who have put so much effort into this team and would like to thank them for what was achieved it the short life of the SAF1 team.
"It is incredible to think that just one year ago we scored our first ever point and the emotion and excitement of that moment has turned to such disappointment just one year on."
Both Sato and Davidson are now forced to evaluate their futures with the demise of the team, but the former Jordan and Honda driver said he had no intention of bringing the curtain down on his Formula 1 career.
"At this time I am not sure what will happen next as I have been concentrating all my efforts on racing for SAF1," he said. "I will be looking at my options with my manager and will make an announcement once it is appropriate.
"However, I have no intention to retire from F1. I feel I am driving at the top of my game and want to give so much more to my fans and supporters in Japan and worldwide who have been so incredibly supportive to me during my whole career."
