Super Aguri F1's First Season: Finding Wins in a Five-Year-Old Car
In 2006, as the engines roared to life for a new Formula 1 season, a team with a unique backstory made its debut on the grid.
Super Aguri, born in just 100 whirlwind days, was spearheaded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki and former Principal Designer for Mclaren, Mark Preston. The team entered the sport not with cutting-edge machinery, but with the remnants of the defunct Arrows Grand Prix team. Armed with a five-year-old car, and the odds stacked against them, Super Aguri brought an underdog spirit that would capture the attention of their competitors.
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Despite facing the reality of competing with outdated equipment, the team embraced a different mindset. They knew that they weren’t going to be able to fight for the World Championship, but they focused on something just as important: keeping morale high and finding small victories. “We just do little things, like ‘What’s five things we’re going to bring to each race?” Mark Preston, the team’s founder and technical director, recalls. “It could be anything from a new engine package to better coffee in the machines. Each one has an impact - either everyone’s whingeing about the coffee or more power in the engine.”
This quirky, determined approach became the hallmark of Super Aguri’s first season in the paddock. Whilst other teams had the budget to stay laser-focused on tenths of a second, some of Super Aguri’s innovation came in the form of keeping the team motivated through creative challenges. And it didn’t go unnoticed, “I remember some of the bigger teams started to realise we were competing with them in ways they hadn’t expected,” Preston says. He recalls other teams saying “You guys are trying to be the first people in in the morning just because you wanted to beat us.”
At the end of the season, even the championship-winning Renault team acknowledged Super Aguri’s unique approach. “There’s a photo of them bringing the champagne to our mechanics and going, ‘We did enjoy competing with you on the strangest things during the year, even if it wasn’t the Championship,’” Preston shared.
The camaraderie and creative thinking helped the team stay motivated during what was an incredibly tough season. “It was always good fun in those days,” Preston said, reflecting on the team’s ability to find joy amidst the challenges.
Listen to the full interview with Mark Preston here:
