In their first season of Formula 1, Super Aguri have made a loss of £4.5 million. Super Aguri have one of the smallest budgets in F1 and although the team has only posted abbreviated accounts which do not show turnover figures, it is estimated that the team only raised around $5 million in sponsorship fees in 2006. This compares to a team like Ferrari who have sponsorship deals 35 times this size. Top teams will employ up to around 1,000 staff; Super Aguri make do with around 100.
Despite the lack of staff and budget, and with problems with one of their main sponsorship deals, Super Aguri finished a credible ninth in their first season although they owe some of their success to their engine supplier Honda Honda underwrite the engine bills for the smaller team in exchange for adverts on the Super Aguri car.
