Anthony Davidson has gone on the offensive against some of his fellow
Formula 1 competitors who have criticised the
Super Aguri drivers' behaviour on the track during the 2008 season so far, suggesting some of them ‘would crack if they were in our position'.
The small Leafield-based outfit has spent both the winter months and opening four races of the current campaign in dire financial difficulty, with their participation in the Turkish Grand Prix – the next round on the calendar – in severe doubt. Having toed the party line for so long, Davidson has now come out fighting to settle a few scores.
Firstly describing the SA08 as a ‘botched job' – before admitting that “the team won't like me for saying that” – the 29-year-old then went on to hit back at remarks made by fellow Brit
David Coulthard, who uncharitably referred to the cars driven by Davidson and team-mate
Takuma Sato as the ‘stupid Aguris', for frequently getting in the way when being lapped.
“They can shut right up,” the Hemel Hempstead-born ace is quoted as saying by
F1SA. “When you can hardly see what the hell is going on because the car is shaking around so much, and you're just fully focused on keeping the damn thing on the track, the last thing you can do is be bothered about others trying to lap you.
“I'd love to swap cars with these drivers. I really believe some of them would struggle, or even crack, if they were in our position.”
There was further bad news for the Japanese minnows when parent company
Honda – with whom team principal Aguri Suzuki is due to meet in Tokyo tomorrow (Wednesday) for what is being called a ‘final' chance – ruled out offering any more financial aid to the beleagured squad to enable Sato and Davidson to race in Istanbul.
