Exclusive - Albers & Sato on 2006
Spyker MF1’s Christijan Albers may have finished his second Formula One season empty handed, but tussling with the Red Bull cars more than made up for a lack of points. Takuma Sato, meanwhile, enjoyed a positive season with the new Super Aguri squad. The Japanese driver’s best finish was his impressive tenth place in Brazil. Here both men review their seasons exclusively for Formula1.com…
Christijan Albers, Spyker MF1
Championship position: 22nd (0 points)
Best race result: 10th (x1) Best qualifying: 14th (x1)
“To me the 2006 season felt like a great novel; one with a promising intro, an exciting build up of tension and, of course, a happy ending. The first test results at the beginning of the season were really promising, but in Bahrain we found out there was still a gap between us and the teams we wanted to challenge. It turned out it’s not that easy to close three seconds a lap. And to be honest, not everything felt fair. Imagine a World Cup final in which one team is allowed to play 12 players instead of 11. The fans would go mad. Still, our competitors were allowed to run a V10 engine.
“Nevertheless, at the end of the season we were catching them. In fact, fighting those four Red Bull’s I felt more and more like a toreador! To me, that made 2006 better than 2005. I was fighting competitors and I was fighting last year’s Rookie of the Year. I think I did a good job, but that was yesterday. Tomorrow we’re running a Dutch team, running Ferrari engines and we get to work with Mike Gascoyne. No more excuses. So I suggest you keep a keen eye out for Spyker MF1. And remember; if it ain’t Dutch, it ain’t much!”
Takuma Sato, Super Aguri
Championship position: 23rd (0 points)
Best race result: 10th (x1) Best qualifying: 17th (x2)
“This year has been a total adventure. There have been many challenges, not only when I have been inside the cockpit, but also when we were building the team. I have been committed to developing Super Aguri from the start and have been involved in every aspect, which has been a great. This year, as a driver, it has obviously been frustrating that we have been at the back of the grid and tail-enders. But considering that we were a new team coming to the first Grand Prix in Bahrain, I have been so proud of everyone in the team, so it has not been difficult to keep my motivation going. I have enjoyed every race this season and we have been constantly developing and growing, so it has been a fantastic year.”
Click to see more exclusive driver reviews from Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Giancarlo Fisichella, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, Nick Heidfeld, Ralf Schumacher, Pedro de la Rosa, Jarno Trulli, David Coulthard, Mark Webber, Robert Kubica, Nico Rosberg, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Scott Speed, Tiago Monteiro, Christijan Albers, Takuma Sato, Robert Doornbos and Sakon Yamamoto.
