Sato calls for big push from Super Aguri

In a rallying call to his new outfit, Sato thinks it is vital that his team make a big push now to improve their structure and operational abilities so that they are ready to make the most of the step-forward in machinery from the SA06.

In an exclusive interview with autosport.com this week, Sato believes that his team are not yet where they need to be if they are to extract the maximum from the new chassis.

"What we need to do is to be prepared ourselves," he said about the future arrival of the car. "It is not only about the car, but also the team. If we have a competitive car here now today then the question is, can we perform to what the car has got? The answer is probably not yet.

"So we have to build up to a whole new environment to ensure we are ready for when we get a competitive car, so we can perform. That is in a good way the building up, because we did not have much preparation time.

"It is a shame we had to do it during the season but even the mechanics, the boys, are learning step by step. So by the time we get a competitive car we should be able to match the speed of the rest of the paddock towards the end of the season."

Although Super Aguri do not have the resources of many of their rivals, Sato is confident that the SA06 will be a big leap forward compared to the updated 2002 Arrows A23 that they are using at the moment.

"Well, I hope it is a big step," he said. "Because otherwise, we are stuck again and we don't want that. We are really desperate to have it and we are expecting to have a big jump. Certainly we should be able to have a head-to-head battle with Midland and also Toro Rosso."

Read Jonathan Noble's interview with Takuma Sato in this week's journal.