Super Aguri put Takuma Sato back in F1 — then its sponsor never paid

When Honda dropped Takuma Sato from its works team, public pressure in Japan helped spawn a whole new entry: former driver Aguri Suzuki registered Super Aguri with the FIA on 1 November 2005. The entry almost failed — the team could not produce the $48 million bond on time — but the existing teams voted unanimously to admit it on 26 January 2006, and it raced as an unofficial Honda B-team with customer engines and technical support.

The money was strained from the first season, and in 2007 the wound opened: the SS United Group was announced as title sponsor just before the Australian Grand Prix, then defaulted on its payments, forcing the team to cut up to 30 staff. On track it was the team's best year — Sato scored its first point with 8th at the Spanish Grand Prix, added 6th at Canada, and Super Aguri finished 9th in the constructors' championship.

The rescue came and went. Magma Group took a stake ahead of 2008 but pulled out before the season began — reports said Honda Racing chief executive Nick Fry had rejected a three-year debt payment plan and demanded full payment at once. After four races, Suzuki announced withdrawal with immediate effect on 6 May 2008, citing SS United's breach of contract, rule changes around customer chassis that blocked new partners, and no viable path forward. The team entered administration on 7 May 2008, two years and four months after it had applied for its grid slot.