Interestingly,
Scott Speed proved quicker than team-mate Tonio Liuzzi in France and having taken a third and a fourth place finish at Hockenheim last year in GP2, the American will be eager to out-qualify the Italian for the third time in a row. Furthermore, should the race prove hard on cars, expect
STR to be there waiting to pick up the pieces.
Super Aguri F1 – Takuma Sato (#22), Sakon Yamamoto(#23):
Could the German Grand Prix prove the race where Super Aguri finally haul themselves off the back row of the grid and start challenging the mid-field? That is certainly what Aguri Suzuki is hoping following the unveiling of the SA06, an almost entirely new vehicle compared to the SA05 they have competed with so far this year.
Although much of the Arrows monocoque remains, much of the car is all-new and has been designed to make the most of the potent
Honda engine and for those who cannot tell the difference between the two vehicles, the new car not only has a slightly revised livery but also a new driver!
Respected driver Sakon Yamamoto has made the step up from test driver to race driver to make Super Aguri an all-Japanese team for the first time since Yuji Ide raced for them at the San Marino Grand Prix. Naturally, Yamamoto, who finished tenth in Formula Nippon last year, was excited by the opportunity.
“Our second shakedown on Thursday was another very good day for the team because we did not encounter any major problems and completed our testing schedule,” Yamamoto said. “I felt that the car was improving constantly throughout the day so I am really looking forward to going to Germany next week.
“Hockenheim will be my first race with the SAF1 Team and I am, of course, very excited and appreciate everyone’s hard work. I am very proud to be racing with the team and will try my best to improve, step-by-step, for everyone.”
Takuma Sato meanwhile has insisted that he ‘knows the car will be competitive’, with the former BAR driver hoping to get amongst the MF1 and STR teams for the first time.
"It was very exciting for me and the team to shakedown the SA06 for the first time on Wednesday. It is good to have this kind of shakedown as we are able to see if there are any initial installation problems. We were able to solve our minor issues quickly and we completed our planned programme for the day, so it was a very good day for the team.
