Minardi sympathises with Suzuki's plight

Minardi fought on with an underfunded team for two decades before Red Bull took over their entry with the Scuderia Toro Rosso team in 2006.

"I lived in Aguri's situation myself so I can understand the way he feels at the moment. I know him, he's a very nice guy," Minardi said.

"Unfortunately, highly-competitive Formula One hasn't much interest in such a small team with financial problems."

Minardi believes the sport uses the smaller teams to their advantage when it needs them, but is not willing to offer them support when they need it the most.

"It happened in the past with the Minardi team and also with other outfits. They utilise you, they help you, and they use you while they need you to make up the numbers and create promotion and interest.

"Just like it happened last year when Super Aguri was born in order to overshadow Honda's decision of going racing without a Japanese driver, which put the company in difficulty in their home country. Maybe that marketing operation has now finished so the team principal isn't interested any more in having a satellite team.

"These days F1 doesn't show the various fights from the back of the grid, and since the cars have now reached a good level of reliability, the survivial of a small team gets overshadowed."