(born 21 January 1975 in Saitama, Saitama) is a Japanese racing driver who graduated from 2005 Formula Nippon to Formula One with the Super Aguri team in 2006, but lost his FIA Super Licence during the season due to erratic driving.

Ide returned to the Formula Nippon series after his four-race F1 stint and now races with the Autobacs Racing Team Aguri team.

Early career

Ide started his racing career in 1990 with kart racing. In 1991, he won the Kantou National Cup Kart Championship. In 1992 he was second in the Regional Kart Championship East Kantou series A1 Class and also won the Japan Kart Grand Prix SS stock class National GP. The following year he joined the All- Japan Kart Championship Series Formula A Class before progressing to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship.

In 1999 he came second in the All Japan GT Championship GT300 Class Series. He was also the Formula Dream series champion in Japan. In 2002 Ide joined the French Formula Three Championship series and finished in seventh place. The following year, 2003, he joined the All Japan Championship Formula Nippon Series and also finished seventh. In 2004, he claimed third spot before going on to win the Super Endurance Race Class 3 Series. He finished his first stint in Formula Nippon finishing second in the 2005 championship.

Formula One

At age 31, Ide became one of Formula One's older rookies when he landed a seat at Super Aguri for the 2006 season, in part due to Super Aguri's aspiration of fielding an all-Japanese team. Ide had known Aguri Suzuki for a long time, according to a press release, however Ide's meshing with the team had some issues with his lack of proficient English.

In his debut race in Bahrain, Ide was way behind his teammate Takuma Sato and failed to finish. At the next race in Malaysia, he retired after 33 laps.

The third race of the 2006 season went poorly for Ide: He was blamed for blocking Rubens Barrichello during his qualifying lap, causing the Brazilian to be stuck in the first round of qualifying and start 16th on the grid. Ide finished in Australia, two laps down. His weekend in Melbourne was notable for a number of spins, and team principal Aguri Suzuki subsequently suggested Ide's seat was not safe if his performances did not improve.

At Imola, Ide caused a first lap crash with Christijan Albers that put the Dutchman into a series of rolls which ended with Albers' car upside down. Ide was reprimanded by the stewards and warned over future conduct. Many accepted that this was not entirely his fault, as the rushed Aguri project had not allowed him much time in the car pre-season.

On May 4, 2006, Super Aguri announced that following advice from the FIA, Ide would be dropped from the upcoming European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, being replaced by former Renault test driver Franck Montagny. Ide was demoted to Montagny's seat as test driver.

On May 10, 2006, the FIA revoked Ide's FIA Super Licence meaning he could no longer compete in F1 during the 2006 season. Super Aguri remained committed to getting Ide back into F1 until their withdrawal from Formula One.

Overall

Overall during Ide's four-race F1 career, he finished once - a 13th place at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix.Ide started last three of his four starts. His best qualifying effort was 21st of 22 cars at his debut at Bahrain. At Bahrain, the 22nd starter, Kimi Räikkönen, did not complete a qualifying attempt.In the November 2009 issue of F1 Racing Magazine, Yuji was named as one of the five worst F1 drivers in history, his greatest blunder being his impact with Christian Albers at the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix, in which he tipped the rival's Midland upside down.

Return to lower-level racing

In July 2006 it was announced that Ide would be racing for Team Dandelion Racing in the final six rounds of the Formula Nippon championship, with the aim of increasing his racing experience.

In 2007, he has remained in Formula Nippon with the Autobacs Racing Team Aguri team, which is owned by Aguri Suzuki. His best finish of the season is a third place, scored in round five at Suzuka.

Personal

According to Ide's personal website, he is 69 kilograms (152 pounds), 177 centimeters (5.8 ft) tall, and the blood type AB+ . Ide is good friends with Shoichi Funaki.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team Name	Races	Poles	Wins	Points	Final Placing
1994	All-Japan Formula Three	Active	6	0	0	0	NC
		Asada Racing		0	0	0
1997	All-Japan Formula Three	Asada Racing	2	0	0	0	NC
1998	All-Japan Formula Three	Now Motorsports	7	0	0	0	NC
2000	All-Japan Formula Three	Mugen Dome Project	10	1	2	35	2nd
	Macau Grand Prix	Skill Speed	1	0	0	N/A	24th
	Korea Super Prix		1	0	0	N/A	13th
2001	All-Japan Formula Three	Three Bond Racing	18	0	0	100	5th
	Macau Grand Prix	Signature Compétition	1	0	0	N/A	5th
	Korea Super Prix		1	0	0	N/A	12th
2002	French Formula Three	Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	14	0	1	84	7th
	European Formula Three Cup		1	0	0	N/A	6th
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	0	N/A	NC
	Masters of Formula Three		1	0	0	N/A	25th
	Korea Super Prix		1	0	0	N/A	10th
2003	Formula Nippon	Racing Team Cerumo	10	0	0	19	7th
	All-Japan GT Championship	Team Impul	8	0	2	64	7th
2004	Formula Nippon	Team Impul	9	1	1	32	3rd
2005	Formula Nippon	Team Impul	9	1	2	39	2nd
	Super GT	Team Impul (GT500)	8	1	0	35	21st
2006	Formula One	Super Aguri	4	0	0	0	25th
	Formula Nippon	Team Dandelion Racing	6	0	0	0	NC
	Super GT	NISMO	1	0	0	0	NC
2007	Formula Nippon	Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	9	0	0	6	13th
	Super GT	Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (GT500)	1	0	0	15	18th
2008	Formula Nippon	Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	11	0	0	2	19th

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Yr	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	WDC	Points
2006	Super Aguri F1	Super Aguri SA05	Honda RA806E 2.4 V8	BHR Ret	MAL Ret	AUS 13	SMR Ret	EUR	ESP	MON	GBR	CAN	USA	FRA	GER	HUN	TUR	ITA	CHN	JPN	BRA	25th	0

References

1. Super Aguri Company
2. All race entries, by Yuji Ide.

External links

• Yuji Ide Official site
• Career details