Davidson will 'stick' with F1

ANTHONY DAVIDSON

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Wednesday 7th May 2008

Anthony Davidson is confident he will bounce back in Formula One after finding himself out of a job on Tuesday.

Super Aguri finally folded after failing to acquire the hoped-for investment for them to continue breathing in the rarefied air of motorsport's elite.

It means Davidson and team-mate Takuma Sato now find themselves on the sidelines and looking on enviously so early into the season.

But Davidson, who failed to score a point with Super Aguri in 21 races with the small Japanese team, firmly believes his days in Formula One are far from over.

"It is a difficult time of year to suffer this bitter blow, but I am fully confident of my ability behind the wheel, and I'm sure things will be better for me in the future," insisted Davidson.

"I'll hang on in there. I have to stick to Formula One. That's the priority at the moment and for the future.

"It's what I have to do, it's what I'm trained to do. I really want to concentrate and get a good chance to do it properly.

"I really feel it's unfinished business for me in Formula One. I feel it's where I belong.

"You only begin to realise just how much you love it when it's taken away from you.

"You never know in this game what can happen. You ride the ups and downs on this rollercoaster, and if it's been a downward slope today, then I'm sure we'll bounce back."

Ten teams and 20 drivers will now line up on the grid for Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul following Super Aguri's demise.

A hoped-for last-minute deal with German automotive company, Weigl Group, was unable to be finalised, forcing Suzuki out of business.

Davidson, 28, feels teams like Super Aguri are simply unable to compete, not only against the major manufacturers, but in such financially- constrained times.

"I think what has happened is a blow to the sport," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It was pretty unexpected for everyone to lose the team so early in the year, and they will be missed.

"But in terms of Formula One, it's a strong sport, it always has been and always will be.

"It is a bitter blow to see them disappear, but maybe it is a sign of the times that privateer teams can't survive now with the way the world is going."

Honda had supported Super Aguri since their birth in early 2006, supplying their fellow Japanese marque with chassis and engines.

But the team ran into financial difficulties at the end of last season when oil and gas company, SS United, defaulted on a payment of their sponsorship deal.

On the eve of the current season, British automotive firm, Magma Group, in conjunction with their backers in Dubai International Capital, appeared poised for a takeover.

But DIC pulled out, leaving Super Aguri on the brink of collapse and in debt to Honda to the tune of over �50million.

To spare Suzuki and his team embarrassment of folding midway into a grand prix weekend, Honda agreed to fund the team in Barcelona, but beyond that it was a case of sink or swim on their own.

At the end of last week, Suzuki appeared to have been granted a reprieve when he announced he was in talks with the Weigl Group.

However, within the corridors of power at Honda, it was questioned over the weekend whether they had the financial muscle required to keep Super Aguri afloat to the end of the season and beyond.

As Suzuki conceded: "We simply ran out of time to put together a deal with Weigl.

"After Magma pulled out suddenly, and without any explanation, I have since flown all over the world talking to other companies, but I was unable to secure a deal.

"Financially it was just impossible to continue in F1 with the enormous budgets needed today.

"We did reach a basic agreement with Weigl, but were always battling against time."

The fact there is a ban on 'customer cars' from 2010 also made Super Aguri an unattractive, and very expensive proposition as they would no longer have had Honda's technical support.

An "exhausted" Suzuki is now unlikely to return to Formula One in the near future, if at all, and added: "I definitely need a break.

"It's a piranha club and I kind of feel that I don't want to stick my fingers back in."

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