Formula 1 News

Giancarlo Minardi: “I can understand how Aguri Suzuki is feeling” 

Former Managing Director of the Minardi F1 Team, Giancarlo Minardi, has commented Super Aguri’s decision to withdraw from the Formula 1 World Championship following the financial difficulties the Japanese team has faced this year. “I myself have lived this situation first hand and I can understand how Aguri Suzuki is feeling at this moment,” said the Italian.

“I know Aguri very well and I am very sympathetic. Unfortunately, an Formula 1 that is so competitive is not very interested in small teams with financial problems. It happened in the past to Minardi, but also to others. We were used like servants to make up the numbers and help with the sport’s promotion and interest, just like last year when the Super Aguri F1 team was born in order to mask somehow Honda Racing’s lack of a Japanese driver within the team,” he continued.

“Perhaps the marketing failed, or perhaps the team principal was no longer interested in having a stable satellite operation. The current Formula One is not interested in the various struggles that occur at the back, and now that the cars are so reliable, the small teams falls by the wayside,” Minardi concluded.