Should you be so inclined - and I know I am - you may well have come to the conclusion that Leafield is cursed. After all, the Super Aguri outfit's British HQ was formerly home to Arrows, which withdrew from the 2002 Formula One World Championship just over half-way through the season.

It is always sad to see an F1 team go under, and in my time I have seen many great names 'disappear' from the sport. However, whereas teams like Brabham and Lotus were sad, pale shadows of their former selves and we were glad to see them put out of their misery, Super Aguri (like Minardi before them) had something, a certain passion, that was a joy to behold. We all have a place for the under-dog.

Now, in a year in which we were promised twelve teams, we are down to ten, with Dietrich Mateschitz seeking a buyer for Toro Rosso. We have a multi-billionaire at Force India but how long before Vijay Mallya 'gets it'? It's all very well boasting about the team's "first top 10 finish" and using the argument that in 2007 (as Spyker) "regular top 12 finishes were something of a rarity", but is this really the yardstick by which he judges his outfit's progress? Yes, Force India is improving, but it is going to take a serious step forward, and consequently a massive increase in budget, if the team is to regularly challenge for points, far less podiums. And if it isn't the aim of Force India - or indeed any other team - to score points and podiums, why are they in F1?

Despite the cost cutting, teams are struggling to survive, then again, this doesn't stop them splashing out on ever more ridiculous hospitality units, and pouring countless millions into aerodynamic research that will be redundant in just a few months.

Super Aguri was founded on the premise that Honda needed a berth for Takuma Sato after dumping him in favour of Rubens Barrichello. However, when you think about this it was madness. Creating an F1 team merely to keep a driver's fans (albeit consumers and thereby customers) happy has to be the most ludicrous thing ever, especially when one considers that having now left him high and dry these fans will be more angry with Honda than if they'd never created Super Aguri in the first place. Furthermore, whatever one's view on the way Honda has acted, the fact is that Toyota - with the assistance of Williams - has the only Japanese driver on the grid. How will that go down at Fuji in October?

Fact is we have lost Super Aguri, but where do we go from here? Should F1 allow customers cars or should we allow some teams to field three or even four cars? Then again, should we be making it easier for new teams to enter F1, after all, with the planet facing a financial crunch - not to mention environmental issues - how long will certain manufacturers stick with the sport?

Some will say that Aguri Suzuki was a dreamer, much like Gian Carlo Minardi, Paul Stoddart and others before him. But then, isn't that what makes sport, and especially our sport, so magical... the power of dreams? Now where have I heard that line before?

In our latest Talking Point, we want your opinion on who is to blame for the loss of Super Aguri, what lessons can be learned (if any) and where the sport goes from here. However, please remember, we're looking for reasoned debate and not the slagging off of certain individuals or companies.

Chris Balfe
Editor

To send your thoughts, click here

Note: Please include your full name - without a full valid name we will not publish your entry.

Christian Carlsson - Amal - Sweden

As an old amateur sportscar racer I truly believe that the customer car issue is the main reason for the decline of entries in todays F1 world.

Just how many of all the guys that was thinking of applying for the "twelfth slot" were actually thinking of building their own car?

And why just limit the field to 12?

I really miss the time when pre-qualifying was just as exciting as the actual race (which was a lot more exciting than today's race!).

Please give the RACERS (= dreamers) the chance to compete with customer items!

BTW, isn't the engines that are of use today a customer item?

Gregor Veble - Slovenia

The loss of the Super Aguri team is one of the saddest things to have happened in recent F1 history. The last team that fully disappeared from the field was Arrows, whose assets the Super Aguri team picked up and put to good use during the two and a bit seasons that their F1 participation lasted. During this rather short time, the team became almost every F1 fan's favourite underdog. I don't think there were many F1 die-hards that did not cheer for Takuma Sato when overtaking the McLaren of Fernando Alonso on merit during the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix of 2007 on his way to a fine 6th place.