The Super Aguri F1 team is the newest outfit to enter the sport - and the first completely new entry since Toyota appeared on the scene in 2001.
The project first became public in the run-up to the Japanese Grand Prix in 2005 and followed the fall-out after Honda's decision to sign Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button for 2006, a move that left Takuma Sato out in the cold and potentially without a drive for the coming year.
As a means to appease their Japanese fans, Honda therefore floated the idea of forming a kind of 'B' team and in stepped former Japanese F1 driver, Aguri Suzuki to head the project.
Aguri quickly took over the premises previously used by the Arrows team in Leafield in the UK and began a rapid recruitment drive to put together the personnel to run the team.
The team's birth though was far from easy, which of course was not surprising when you consider the outfit was put together in such a short space of time.
Furthermore while they quickly gained guarantees that Honda would supply them with engines, plans to run the former BAR 007 chassis came to nought, as the rules for 2006 forbid it.
In the end Aguri had to acquire the former Arrows A23 cars, bought from ex-Minardi boss, Paul Stoddart, who himself had acquired they from receivers after Arrows went bust prior to the start of the 2002 season. The team initally used a modified version of the A23 as a stop-gap - re-named SA05 - before introducing their own car around mid-season.
The delay with the chassis though was not the only issue and after failing to lodge the required bond with the FIA prior to the November deadline, the Super Aguri squad had to secure the approval of the other teams in the sport to compete.
While initially there was some reluctance, their rivals eventually granted them permission and the FIA rubber-stamped their entry at the end of January, once the $48 million bond had been submitted, albeit late.
The team then signed a deal to use Bridgestone tyres and at the end of February announced that they would have an all Japanese driver line-up for year one, with Takuma Sato leading the outfit, which was largely created so he could remain in the sport.
Lining up for the its first race, in Bahrain, a little over five months since the whole concept of Super Aguri F1 had even been born, the team proved off the pace, albeit not as far as its dated chassis and infancy status would have suggested.
Rooted to the back of the grid, Super Aguri's first few races were marked by some heroic performances by Sato, who proved to be a demon starter and garnered a few column inches with his ability to circulate amongst the midfield for early part of the races.
Yuji Ide, however, found his baptism in F1 somewhat fiery and began to come in for criticism for his questionable level of experience. The final straw eventually came at the San Marino Grand Prix when Ide tipped Albers into a roll, forcing the FIA to suspend his licence.
Former Renault test driver Franck Montagny made a rather belated race debut in place of the Japanese rookie at the Nurburgring, having only been told a few days earlier he would be piloting Super Aguri's third car for the first time in testing.
Montagny would not stay in the car though, with the team's desire for an all-Japanese driver line-up prompting it to dip back into the Formula Nippon driver pool and sign Sakon Yamamoto from the German Grand Prix onwards.
Although he too endured a tough start to his F1 career, Yamamoto proved to be closer to Sato than many had expected. The team itself was also making strides as the season wore on, shortening the gap to the likes of MF1/Spyker and STR, even if reliability was proving a downfall following the introduction of the revised SA05 - named the SA06.
The best was yet to come though, with Sato, having been disqualified in China for a driving discrepancy, going on to redeem himself at the final race of the year in Brazil with a stunning drive to tenth place, out-pacing Spyker, STR and, most impressively, Red Bull. More tellingly, both Sato and Yamamoto were posting regular top ten fastest laps throughout the race.
It was with this encouraging form that Super Aguri went into 2007, where Sato was joined by former Carlin F3 and Honda team-mate, Anthony Davidson, both pedalling the SA07, which was essentially Honda's 2006 car - the RA106.
The team upset the applecart on more than one front during '07. Its car was protested at the very first race for example, after Spyker decided that it comprised a customer car and therefore contravened the rules, while the same machinery also allowed it to run ahead of the works Honda team that had supplied it! Indeed Honda only got ahead of its 'B'-team in the constructors' following the penultimate race.
The highlight for the Oxfordshire-based team undoubtedly came at the Canadian GP in June, when Sato finished sixth, passing Ralf Schumacher's Toyota and Fernando Alonso's McLaren in the closing stages of the race. Admittedly the result was down to unusual circumstances - there were four safety car periods and Taku had a tyre advantage at the end - but in general it illustrated just how much progress had been made.
That result - along with Sato's eighth place finish in Spain in the May, meant the team opened its account in only its second year, ending the season with 4 points on the board and ninth in the constructors', ahead of Spyker (and McLaren, who were stripped of all their points as a result of the spy row).
While Sato scored all the team's point though, Davidson still did very well and in general the Englishman was the faster of the two, out-qualifying him 10-7. In the end however his top results were three eleventh places, after his best efforts were thwarted by incidents beyond his control - such as the suicidal groundhog that decided to end its days wedged in his front wing at the Canadian GP!
The future for Super Aguri was uncertain over the winter period due to financial difficulties - something that severely disrupted its pre-season preparations.
However in the build up to the first round, the Australian GP a deal was confirmed with the Magma Group, and this will ensure the team remains on the grid, again fielding cars for Sato and Davidson.
