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Re-examining 'F1's worst ever driver' on his birthday
Yuji Ide has an unfortunate place in the history of Formula 1. The
Japanese racer, who turns 51 on January 21st, only took part in
four Grands Prix for the Super Aguri squad back in 2006 - coming in
as a 31-year-old rookie. After tipping Christijan Albers into a
barrel-roll on the opening lap at the San Marino Grand Prix, the
FIA stepped in to revoke Ide's super licence until he had gained
more experience. 20 years later, Ide's super licence is still
revoked after he headed back to Japan and Super GT racing. But the
odds were stacked against Ide, meaning he never really got a fair
crack at Grand Prix racing. Ide was not a world beater, but held a
respectable record in Formula Nippon, finishing third in 2004, just
one point behind champion Richard Lyons and level with Andre
Lotterer, who would go on to win Le Mans three times and the 2012
WEC title. Ide would go one better in 2005, but was pipped by
Satoshi Motoyama in the final standings before his unexpected F1
call-up to be team-mate to Takuma Sato in the team created
especially for him after the works Honda team dumped him ahead of
the '06 season to allow Rubens Barrichello to join from Ferrari.
When it came to the season-opener in Bahrain, Ide qualified slowest
of all, nearly 2.8s slower than Sato - who himself was 1.4s slower
than Tiago Montiero. Ide was nearly seven seconds off the pace in
Q1, set by Michael Schumacher. It didn't get much better as he
retired from that race, and the next one in Malaysia, before at
least seeing the chequered flag in Australia with a 13th place
finish - albeit three laps down on winner Fernando Alonso. Next
time out at Imola, Ide tipped Albers upside down into the gravel at
Villeneuve corner on the opening lap, and later retired with
suspension problems after 23 laps. They would be the last laps he'd
ever drive in F1 machinery. The article continues below. Yuji
Ide's F1 career A return to Japan Being shoe-horned into an F1
seat, at the team that was purpose-built just so your team-mate
could continue to have a drive probably isn't the best atmosphere
to make your Grand Prix debut - at any age. But while Ide did not
have the easiest time of it, neither did he show any flashes of
promise that at least there could be something to work with if he
was given more time. Indeed, his greatest achievement is seeing the
chequered flag at the tricky Albert Park circuit in Melbourne in
round three in Australia. After the FIA withdrew his super licence,
Ide returned to Japan to compete in Super GT racing, picking up a
win at Suzuka in 2010. In 2022, he completed a part-campaign,
banking a second at Fuji and sixth once again at Suzuka Results
have been decent enough, although his last win came in 2010 at
Suzuka. In 2022, Ide claimed second place at Fuji and sixth at
Suzuka in his part-campaign. It's not fair to characterise Ide as a
complete no-hoper who had no right to be anywhere near a Grand Prix
car, unlike some others who went before and paid their way onto the
grid. A perfectly competent racing driver, the cards were stacked
against him, and at the end of the day, he was just a little out of
his depth in Formula 1. There is no shame in that.
