Aguri Suzuki, the first Japanese racer to stand on the F1 podium (third place at the 1990 Japan GP), launched the SUPER AGURI F1 TEAM in 2006 as team principal. As a new private team, they experienced a great deal of hardship, but hey also felt a great sense of fulfillment and finished races (best result: tenth place). The following year, the team raced with the SA07, powered by the same 2.4 liter naturally-aspirated V8 Honda RA807E as the Honda Racing F1 Team (HRF1) factory team. It was Super Aguri’s Honda SA07 that had unexpected success in the early half of the season.

Super Aguri had a cooperative relationship with Honda in areas beyond engine supply, and the development of the SA07, which also utilized data from the previous year’s HRF1 car, the RA106 (winner of the 2006 Hungarian GP), undoubtedly contributed to the team’s rapid progress in the first half of 2007. Having information on a winning car was not only a pure developmental advantage, but also a big help to Super Aguri, which was a private team and had been facing financial problems throughout its activities. Super Aguri’s UK-based technical staff, led by Technical Director Mark Preston and Chief Designer Peter McCool, made good use of their scarce development funds, and with little time to spare, tailored the SA07 and prepared it for the season opener.

In 2007, Super Aguri’s driver lineup consisted of their ace driver Takuma Sato, and Anthony Davidson, in his first full-time F1 role. Davidson had been a test driver for HRF1 until the previous year, so his presence may have had an effect in the development of the RA106-based car. Also, Bridgestone was the sole tire supplier for this year, and Super Aguri were on Bridgestone tires in 2006, which was an advantage over HRF1, which had been using Michelin tires. James Rossiter was Super Aguri’s test driver that year.

Although there was some potential for improvement from the previous year, the performance of the Super Aguri Honda SA07 in the opening round of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, was nothing short of spectacular. Sato proceeded to Q3 (tenth on the grid). The previous year, the team had not even made it to Q2, and now they were in the top 10, with Davidson also making it to Q2 and qualifying in 11th place. The atmosphere among the fans and officials during the qualifying round of the season opener had changed to one of not underestimating the Super Aguri team. Sato and Davidson finished the race in 12th and 16th positions, respectively. Lower, but they completed the race.

The sensational performance in the season-opener demonstrated the SA07 was well built. At the same time, the team’s financial situation was not as good as it had been, and it was clear that as the season progressed, development would suffer in comparison to the other teams. In other words, Super Aguri’s strategy focused on the first half of the season, and, reminiscent of the private F1 teams of the old days, they continued to make the most of their opportunities. The next sensational race was Round 4, Spain.

In rounds 2 and 3, one of the two Super Aguri cars progressed to Q2. In the Spanish GP, both cars were in Q2 for the first time in the season, and Sato was 13th on the grid. In the race, Sato defended 13th place, and as other cars dropped out, he moved up to ninth in the closing stages. When Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault), running in eighth place, made his final pit stop for fuel, Sato was just in time to move ahead, and earn the team’s first ever point (points were awarded to the top 8). Davidson also finished in eleventh place, in Super Aguri’s 22nd race which was culmination of the team’s efforts at this point in its history.

Considering its funding problems, the Spanish GP should have been the highlight of their season, but the concerted efforts of the Super Aguri drivers and team staff led to another sensational performance in Round 6, the Canadian GP. In the qualifying round, Sato finished Q2 in eleventh place, just one position shy of advancing to Q3. In the race, Sato moved up to tenth on the first lap, and then to ninth in the early laps. The race turned out to be a wild battle with the safety car being deployed multiple times, and although 22 cars started the race, only twelve finished, including two disqualifications. By the end of the race, Sato was in eighth place, and was looking for the second points finish in the team’s history. His performance did not stop there.

Sato moved up to seventh on Lap 66 of the 70-lap race, and on Lap 68 passed the #1 car, Fernando Alonso, who had won the championship with Renault two years in a row and had moved to McLaren Mercedes this year. The rules requiring the use of two tire types during the race and the series of safety car incidents put Alonso at a disadvantage in terms of tire condition in the final stages. Nonetheless, Sato overtaking the champion from the outside on braking before the final chicane was a truly memorable scene, and one that will remain in Super Aguri’s, Honda’s, and Japan’s F1 history.

Sato’s sixth place finish in the Canadian Grand Prix was impressive, but Davidson also did a good job. Although the race was a chaotic and pit timings were a bit off, Davidson still managed to move up to third on Lap 36. Unfortunately, he collided with a small animal that had entered the track, and his final result was eleventh place, but his strong performance also shined throughout the race. The highlight of Super Aguri’s season in Spain was overwhelmed in just two races by sensational Canada. (Of course, the excitement of Spain was not lost).

However, the sensational performances could not last. Lack of development funds was still a problem, and as the season progressed from mid-season, Super Aguri’s relative competitiveness declined. At that time, aerodynamic additions were being added to F1 cars, and the degree of transformation due to evolution and track adaptations during the season was not significant. The SA07’s changes were modest compared to the other teams. After Round 7, the team could not manage to finish within the points.

Despite this, Davidson’s eleventh place finish in the U.S. GP and twelfth in the European GP, and Sato’s twelfth place finish in the final round in Brazil, were the results of the hard work of the drivers and the team. At the same time, it was also a testament to the fact that the SA07 was a very stable and well-designed car, even though it did not have the ability to evolve due to financial reasons. Super Aguri finished ninth in the constructors’ standings out of the ten teams excluding McLaren, which was eleventh after being disqualified. The fact that Super Aguri was ranked higher than HRF1 until the closing stages of the season, and eclipsed Spyker F1, was truly miraculous.

Super Aguri’s challenge came to an end in the middle of 2008, but compared to the later teams that began competing from 2010 onward, its success in 2007 as a newly established private team was remarkable: Sato’s Super Aguri Honda SA07 overtook Alonso’s McLaren Mercedes MP4-22, a world-class achievement by a Japanese driver in a Japanese private team car with a Japanese-made engine.