Davidson out of a job as Aguri crash

And following a showdown meeting this morning with members of the board of Honda, who supply him with cars and engines, team owner Aguri Suzuki pulled the plug.

Suzuki had struggled to keep the cars of Davidson and Japanese team-mate Takuma Sato in racing following the breakdown of a sponsorship deal with oil and gas company SS United last year.

Takeover talks were subsequently held with the London-based group Magma and Dubai International Capital, who are also involved in negotiations for a major stake in Liverpool Football Club.

When these fell through, Suzuki pinned his hopes on a deal with the German company Weigl, whose representatives were at last week's Spanish Grand Prix.

But Nick Fry, head of the Honda F1 team, had expressed doubts about the viability of Weigl's involvement.

Fry, who has considerable influence over senior executives at the parent Honda motor company, said: "It would appear unlikely that a company the size of Weigl are able to support a competitive Formula One team."

Suzuki, whose team scored just four points from 41 Grands Prix since being founded in 2005, admitted: "I knew after we weren't able to reach a deal with Magma that it would be difficult to go on."

It is understood Super Aguri owe Honda up to £50million.

Suzuki claimed a breach of contract by SS United was to blame for leaving the team in financial difficulties.

He revealed that Davidson and Sato were "extremely disappointed" by the news when he phoned them earlier today, and he paid tribute to them.

Suzuki, himself a former F1 driver, said: "Anthony always pushed to the limit despite the very difficult conditions. Takuma always fought hard."

Davidson, 29, is regarded as one of the best test drivers in Formula One but is unlikely to find another car to race this season. His hopes in 2009 could rest with Honda if veteran Brazilian Rubens Barrichello retires.

Suzuki was philosophical about his own situation. He said: "It had always been my dream to be a Formula One owner. The past two and a half years have flown past but I have no regrets.

"We simply ran out of time to put together a deal with Weigl. Magma pulled out suddenly, and without any explanation, and since then I have been flying all over the world talking to other companies but was unable to secure a deal.

"Financially it was just impossible to continue in F1 with the enormous budgets needed today. We did reach a basic agreement with Weigl but were always battling against time."

Super Aguri's exit left Formula One with 10 teams for the first time since 2005. Twelve teams were expected to compete this year, but the new Prodrive outfit pulled out after being told they could not run cars that were to have been bought from McLaren.