The FIA, F1’s governing body, has withdrawn embattled Japanese rookie Yuji Ide’s super licence and he will not race again this season, the Super Aguri F1 team said on Wednesday.
The FIA, F1’s governing body, has withdrawn embattled Japanese rookie Yuji Ide’s super licence and he will not race again this season, the Super Aguri F1 team said on Wednesday.
Former Renault test driver, Frenchman Franck Montagny, who made his race début with the Honda-backed newcomers at last Sunday’s European Grand Prix, will race again in Spain this weekend as well as in Monaco on May 28.
“Super Aguri confirms that the (International Automobile Federation) FIA permit office has retracted Yuji Ide’s super licence,” the Japanese team said in a statement.
“He will therefore not be participating in any further official FIA Formula One world championship events this year,” it added.
Stewards at the San Marino Grand Prix reprimanded Ide, 31, after the Japanese driver collided with Midland’s Christijan Albers, sending the Dutch driver’s MF1 barrel-rolling into the gravel. Subsequently, Ide was dropped before the Nurburgring on the advice of the FIA after several teams expressed safety concerns.
Albers accused the Aguri driver of simply pushing him off the road: “They are taking too many risks and we saw today how dangerous this can be,” the Dutchman said.
Team founder Aguri Suzuki said he accepted the FIA’s decision “with sadness and regret” but held out hope that Ide might return to F1 one day and added that the team would “continue to seek driving opportunities for Yuji”. Discussions with a number of parties continue regarding the permanent positions of second race seat and third driver, Suzuki concluded.
Super Aguri joined F1 at the beginning of this season with the sport’s first all-Japanese line-up. Ide was a team-mate to former BAR Honda driver Takuma Sato, Japan’s most successful Formula One driver. The pair campaigned 2,4-litre V8 Honda engines wedged into four-year-old ex-Arrows chassis.
Sakon Yamamoto, who tested for the Jordan (now MF1) team at his home race last year, and is currently racing in Japan’s Formula Nippon, has been suggested as Ide’s successor.
Meanwhile, Ide’s exit from the F1 grid has drawn a mixed reaction from his former grand prix rivals.
Red Bull Racing’s Austrian driver Christian Klien said Ide’s racing lines often appeared “really different” to the rest of the Formula One field and McLaren’s Kimi Räikkönen pointed out possible motives of safety in the FIA’s advice to Super Aguri, saying Ide “could have been a disaster at Monaco.”
But Ralf Schumacher disagreed: “Maybe Ide should have been given another chance. He is a new driver, it’s a new team – it must have been hard for him.”
Ralf’s brother, seven-time world champion Michael agreed, pointing out that the four-year-old Super Aguri was a “disaster”.
“(And) Ide has had hardly any opportunities to test,” the German added. “I am sure his incident (with Albers) at Imola did not help, but the circumstances were extremely difficult for him.”
