F1 07 review: Toyota

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Toyota may have ended the 2007 World Constructors’ Championship in sixth place, but it’s tempting to describe them as the worst team in the sport.

Having strode into F1 with virtually limitless funding five years ago they have accomplished little and show no promise of improvement in the future.

They had yet another middling season in 2007, and a team that achieves Toro Rosso results with Ferrari money is woefully under-performing.

The best and worst

Toyota became the world’s largest vehicle manufacturers in the first quarter of 2007. But you need more than billions in cash and vast expertise in volume car production to run effective Formula 1 team.

The press criticism of Toyota’s F1 effort has been so clear and consistent it’s beginning to sound clich?â?®. But it remains true that they’re trying to run an F1 team like a corporation, and it just doesn’t seem to be working.

Decision making is too slow and too conservative. Group accountability rather than individual responsibility means that the safe path is always taken and innovation is shunned rather than embraced.

Think: have you ever seen Toyota try some radical new solution to a problem? A funny looking wing or a trick suspension setup? Probably not. – they even acquired Williams’ ‘seamless shift’ gearbox rather than develop their own.

Of course part of the trade for that was that Williams could use the latest specification Toyota engines – with which they then soundly beat the parent company 33 points to 13.

Dropping their drivers

Perhaps the message is finally getting home. Ralf Schumacher is officially leaving the team after three years, having failed to do for the Japanese squad what his brother did for Ferrari. Schumacher blew hot and cold this year, slumping early on but improving briefly in the middle of the year, before tailing off again. He seemed back on form in Shanghai but retires after tone too many incidents including an ill-advised ‘shutting of the door’ on Vitanatonio Liuzzi.

Toyota (based in Cologne) have apparently been courting Nico Rosberg to replace Schumacher, but the German seems to have made it quite clear that he’s happier at Williams . As even Jarno Trulli might yet leave the team – despite his contract for next year – the team couldhave an entirely different look in 2008.

But is it the drivers that are the problem? Trulli, as ever, qualified well throughout 2007, often getting into the top ten and Schumacher joined him several times too. But they found the TF107 uncompetitive over race distances and particularly poor at getting away from the line – which is utterly crucial today.

There were more glaring errors, too, that would have embarrassed even the lowliest of teams. The drivers were instructed to avoid the high kerbing at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as it provoked suspension failures…

The team are uninspiring and rudderless and that’s why, despite their pots of cash, they continue to disappoint and fail to attract the top drivers. Would anyone even mind if they weren’t there?

Photos: Toyota F1 Media

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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8 comments on “F1 07 review: Toyota”

  1. I certainly wouldn’t mind.

  2. Honestly I don’t think I would miss Toyota that much. But I’d like them to stay around, if only for the sake of keeping the grid numbers up. I think Toyota will hang around for a few more years, but I doubt they’ll really get anywhere. As you say, the whole hierarchy of the team is fundamentally flawed (or at least its structure is), and will ultimately prevent them from consistently challenging at the front. Shame, really.

    But in the meantime they should try something REALLY off the wall, like, replace that ultra-dull paint scheme that’s about as exciting as printer paper.

  3. I don’t get it. They managed to be half decent at the start of 05, and have since gone backwards again.

  4. They are the most boring and most inefficient team. Williams gets the same engine power and spends 10 times less money and can achieve more… That is where they should go and learn or simply walk away and focus on work with Williams.

    They do not have to hang around just to keep grid numbers. They can offer the team for sale and even if they sell it cheap they still save few hundred million dollars they burn every year …

    If they want to hang around, then besides the livery they should also do something about their merchandise etc etc … Toyota’s is usually the only merchandise booth at the races where there is nobody lining because there is nothing to line up for…

  5. The solution to Toyota’s problems is quite obvious but I suppose it will take time for the board of directors to realise it. All they have to do is buy into the Williams team and allow Sir Frank to get them the wins they want. Their own team could then be quietly auctioned off by some ex-used car salesman. Didn’t Eddie Jordan make noises recently about having another go?

  6. I have heard that Toyota don’t get anywhere after 2-3 more years, they’ll close shop and provide full support to Williams. They won’t sell their base, but they could sell their cars. (At least I hope they do, but they don’t need to, really.)

  7. Why are they hell bent on spending so much in a driver’s market if they’re not going to supply an equal, if not better, car.

    At least Honda targeted key members of different F1 departments in a bid to achieve success, whereas the most I’ve heard about Toyota spending money is on drivers.

    It is a shame, they do well in most racing categories they participate in, and I was initially excited by their entry, and their promising, albeit somewhat delusional, success a couple years back… but uninspiring is probably the exact word I’d agree upon. No passion, no spirit…shame.

  8. it was rumoured that 2008 will be their last time, if they fail to achieve significant improvement they will close the shop, if that´s true i hope they will mantain their support for williams (engines and maybe some more money) and sell their cars to someone so the grid won´t lose some cars ¿That prodrive want a customer car? jeje

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