Toyota F1

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**Toyota**
Image:Panasonic Toyota Racing logo.png
Full name	Panasonic Toyota Racing
Base	Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Team principal	Image:Flag of Japan (bordered).svg Tsutomu Tomita
Technical director	Image:Flag of France.svg Pascal Vasselon <ref>"Gascoyne leaves Toyota 'amicably'" BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 October 2006</ref>
Race drivers	11. Image:Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher 12. Image:Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli
Test drivers	Image:Flag of France.svg Franck Montagny Image:Flag of Japan (bordered).svg Kohei Hirate Image:Flag of Japan (bordered).svg Kamui Kobayashi
Chassis	Toyota TF107B Image:Toyota TF106B.jpg
Engine	Toyota RVX-07
Tyres	Bridgestone
Debut	2002 Australian Grand Prix
Races competed	87
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0
Pole positions	2
Fastest laps	1
2006 position	6th (35 points)

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Toyota F1 is a Formula One team run by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota.

1 Racing history
2 Toyota and the GPMA
3 Complete Formula One results
4 External links
5 Footnotes

[edit] Racing history

[edit] 1978-2002: Origins

Toyota's presence in Motorsport can be traced back to late 1972 when Swedish Rally driver Ove Andersson first drove for the Japanese firm in the RAC Rally of Great Britain. The team was later renamed, Team Toyota Europe and then Toyota Motorsport. The team managed to win a number of Drivers' titles, with the likes of Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriol most notably. But after a banning from the FIA in 1995 for the running of illegal parts, the team started to struggle against its rivals.

After two failed attempts of winnig the Le Mans 24 Hours, Toyota ended their Rallying program to concentrate on their Formula One efforts, and on June 30, 2000 the team is secure its place in the Formula One championship as the 12th entry for the 2002. Much to everyone's surprise, the team opted to start their own works team rather than partner with a specialist team such as Williams or McLaren.<ref>Mark Hughes The Unofficial Complete Encyclopedia Of Formula One Page 131, Line 3-6 Hermes House ISBN 1-84309-864-4</ref>

[edit] 2002-2004: Early years

Olivier Panis driving the Toyota TF04 at the 2004 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis

2002

Toyota F1 debuted in Formula One competition in 2002, with drivers Brit Allan McNish and Finland's Mika Salo driving the Toyota TF02, designed by Gustav Brunner.<ref>Mark Hughes The Unofficial Complete Encyclopedia Of Formula One Page 131, Line 15-19 Hermes House ISBN 1-84309-864-4</ref> Despite reportedly having one of the biggest budgets in Formula One,<ref>"Toyota predict massive progress" BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 October 2006</ref> Toyota scored only two points all year, level with Minardi, and ahead of only one other team, Arrows, which ran out of money halfway through the season. Neither McNish nor Salo were offered jobs for 2003, although they did a reasonable job in the circumstances.

2003

In 2003, Toyota signed Brazilian Cristiano da Matta, who won the ChampCar series the previous year using a Toyota powered car, and former BAR driver Olivier Panis to take over the racing duties from Salo and McNish. The team managed several points finishes during the season, but only as high as fifth place in Germany. At the end of the season, the team had accumulated sixteen points, an improvement to the previous season in terms of points — but still ended up 8th in the Constructors' Championship.

2004

Toyota retained their driver line-up for 2004, but the season proved to be a difficult one for the team, as both Toyotas were disqualified from the Canadian Grand Prix for running illegal parts. Cristiano da Matta, disillusioned with Formula One, left the team after the German Grand Prix, and was replaced by fellow Brazilian Ricardo Zonta, who had been the team's third driver prior to da Matta's exit. Zonta drove for Toyota for the following four rounds, before being replaced by Italian Jarno Trulli, who had left theRenault works team. Panis, meanwhile, announced his retirement from racing, and bowed out before the final race of the season in Brazil to allow Zonta to compete in his home race. The team scored just over half the points they scored in 2003, but manage to equal their best finish of fifth at the European Grand Prix and maintain their 8th place in the Constructors' Championship.

[edit] 2005-2006: Early success

Image:Zonta (Toyota) qualifying at USGP 2005.jpg Image:Trulli cheste 2006-02.jpg

2005

2005 would see an improvement in Toyota's fortunes, the team retained Trulli for the season but replaced Zonta with Ralf Schumacher from Williams, who during the team's launch for their 2005 car, the TF05, said that he had a better chance of winning the title at Toyota then he ever did at Williams.<ref>"Ralf in dig at old team Williams" BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 November 2006</ref> The team had also employed designer Mike Gascoyne to oversee the development of the Toyota TF05. Toyota also supplied its engines to the Jordan team, who would later become Midland F1, then Spyker F1, which would later use the Ferrari engines. Toyota made a good start to the season, as Jarno Trulli was able to show the car's pace by qualifying second at the opening round in Australia and finishing in second at the following two races in Malaysia and Bahrain. Results soon began to peter away as Toyota were unable to keep up with the pace of development by other teams.

Nevertheless, the 2005 season has been Toyota's most successful Formula One season by far, as they scored points in all but the opening race and the controversial United States Grand Prix, where Jarno Trulli qualified on pole, but had to retire before the race as he was running with Michelin tyres.

2006

Toyota retained the same driver lineup for 2006, though it switched to Bridgestone tyres and was the first team to unveil their new car very early into winter testing. It was thought to be giving them significant edge over their rivals, but the team performed averagely in testing. Apart from a third place in Australia, both Toyotas failed to score a podium finish during 2006 but Trulli came close to securing a podium in Monaco, but the Italian's engine failed during the late stages of the race. Despite these set-backs, the team enjoyed their second best season performance in its history, scoring 35 points and finishing in sixth place, one point behind BMW Sauber.

[edit] 2007 onwards: Alliance with Williams

2007

Trulli and Schumacher opted to stay with Toyota for 2007, Toyota were also supplying engines to not only the works team, but to British Contructor Williams who had, by their own standards, underperformed with the Cosworth engines during 2006 after their split with BMW.<ref>"Williams sign Toyota engine deal" BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 November 2006</ref>

[edit] Toyota and the GPMA

Toyota joined the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA) with the other car manufacturers involved in F1; BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Honda and Renault. The GPMA's intention was to have a united voice against the governing body of F1, the FIA and lobby for change in the way the sport is run. However, on 14th August 2006, Toyota left the GPMA, stating that the body had achieved its objectives.

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Points	WCC
2002	Toyota TF102	Toyota V10	M		AUS	MAL	BRA	SAN	ESP	AUT	MON	CAN	EUR	GBR	FRA	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	USA	JPN			2	10th
				Allan McNish	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	8	9	Ret	Ret	14	Ret	11	Ret	14	9	Ret	15	WD
				Mika Salo	6	12	6	Ret	9	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	9	15	7	11	14	8
2003	Toyota TF103	Toyota V10	M		AUS	MAL	BRA	SAN	ESP	AUT	MON	CAN	EUR	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	ITA	USA	JPN				16	8th
				Cristiano da Matta	Ret	11	10	12	6	10	9	11	Ret	11	7	6	11	Ret	9	7
				Olivier Panis	Ret	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	13	8	Ret	8	11	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	10
2004	Toyota TF104 Toyota TF104B	Toyota V10	M		AUS	MAL	BAH	SAN	ESP	MON	EUR	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	CHN	JPN	BRA		9	8th
				Cristiano da Matta	12	9	10	Ret	13	6	Ret	DSQ	Ret	14	13	Ret
				Olivier Panis	13	12	9	11	Ret	8	11	DSQ	5	15	Ret	14	11	8	Ret	14	14
				Ricardo Zonta													Ret	10	11	Ret		13
				Jarno Trulli																	11	12
2005	Toyota TF105 Toyota TF105B	Toyota V10	M		AUS	MAL	BAH	SAN	ESP	MON	EUR	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	TUR	ITA	BEL	BRA	JPN	CHN	88	4th
				Jarno Trulli	9	2	2	5	3	10	8	Ret	DNS	5	9	14	4	6	5	Ret	13	Ret	15
				Ralf Schumacher	12	5	4	9	4	6	Ret	6		7	8	6	3	12	6	7	8	8	3
				Ricardo Zonta									DNS
2006	Toyota TF106 Toyota TF106B	Toyota V8	B		BAH	MAL	AUS	SAN	EUR	ESP	MON	GBR	CAN	USA	FRA	GER	HUN	TUR	ITA	CHN	JPN	BRA		35	6th
				Ralf Schumacher	14	8	3	9	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	9	6	7	15	Ret	7	Ret
				Jarno Trulli	16	9	Ret	Ret	9	10	17	11	6	4	Ret	7	12	9	7	Ret	6	Ret

[edit] External links

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Toyota F1

[edit] Footnotes

Constructors and drivers competing in the 2007 Formula One championship
McLaren	Renault	Ferrari	Honda	BMW	Toyota
1 Alonso 2 Hamilton	3 Fisichella 4 Kovalainen	5 Massa 6 Räikkönen	7 Button 8 Barrichello	9 Heidfeld 10 Kubica	11 R.Schumacher 12 Trulli
Red Bull	Williams	Toro Rosso	Spyker	Super Aguri
14 Coulthard 15 Webber	16 Rosberg 17 Wurz	18 Liuzzi 19 Speed	20 Albers 21 ?	22 Sato 23 Davidson