A disappointing end to a promising weekend saw the Super Aguri F1 team retire both of its cars for the first time this season. Takuma Sato drove a solid race once again, however, but his afternoon ended prematurely on lap 44.

　 "It is disappointing not to finish the race, as we have had no reliability issues all weekend. I had a reasonable start to the race and was able to make up a position, but the car was lacking in pace, so I could not improve any further. The boys have done a really great job all weekend, and we have made good progress, so we shall just keep working hard to improve our performance."

　 Further work to the team's SA05-Honda overnight saw Super Aguri F1's Takuma Sato finish qualifying within touching distance of the cars ahead of him at Imola.

　 "It has been a good day for the team. We made encouraging progress overnight and this morning's practice session went very smoothly, so I was able to put in a good performance in qualifying. I am very pleased with my lap, as I think that we got the best out of the car and the team is very much looking forward to the race tomorrow."

　 Super Aguri F1 made a positive start to the San Marino Grand Prix weekend, with both drivers evenly matched in first practice, before Takuma Sato pulled himself closer to the pace of the cars ahead of him in the second session.

　 "We had a good day and were able to learn a number of useful things by varying our programme. It was interesting testing the two Bridgestone tyre options and we have collected important data. The car is unstable on the kerbs and bumps, so it is a bit difficult to drive, but I think that we improved throughout the sessions and we will just continue to work hard to prepare ourselves for tomorrow."