Super Aguri made to wait until next week

The Japanese team had been expected to get the green light to enter F1 this week, pending the arrival of their $48 million bond with the sport's governing body.

But according to high level sources, last minute problems with the administration of the entry have meant that the FIA is currently unable to give approval to Super Aguri. It is understood that the matter does not relate to the deposit, which has been lodged, but surrounds legal issues in the paperwork.

The situation will now not be resolved until the start of next week, when it is hoped that the FIA will be able to confirm the arrival of F1's 11th team.

Super Aguri have had a troubled time in their bid to get onto the grid in 2006. They missed the original entry deadline with the FIA because of red tape problems surrounding their deposit, and they then faced a major battle in trying to convince all their rival teams to support their late entry.

Work is continuing at the team's Leafield factory in preparing their cars for the new season. The team plan to run an updated version of the 2002 Arrows cars for the first races of the season before launching their own car for the start of the European campaign at the San Marino Grand Prix.

The team are not planning to test for the first time until February.