 The team was created at short notice, partly due to Honda's unwillingness to leave the popular Sato without an F1 drive.The team, led by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was funded by Honda and used Honda engines.The chassis, however, was based on the Arrows A23 from , which the team purchased from Paul Stoddart (who had in turn bought these cars after the Arrows team collapsed and intended to use them for developing a new Minardi known as the "PS04").