Toyota in F1 2001-2009 in pictures
17 November 2009 by Keith Collantine
Mika Salo tests Toyota's first F1 car at Paul Ricard in 2001
Toyota: they arrived, they spent staggering amounts of money without winning anything, and then they gave up.
It’s not the kind of inspiring story that’s likely to get made into a film any time soon. But it wasn’t without its high points and interesting moments. Have a look at some of Toyota’s better memories in this 90-picture gallery.
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- Toyota’s motorsport activities before F1 included rallying
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- Toyota were manufacturers’ champions in the WRC in 1998 and 1999
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- They hoped to emulate their rally success in Formula 1
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- Toyota also entered the Le Mans 24 Hours with its GT One
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- The team nearly won the French classic race in 1999
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- Toyota based its F1 operation in Cologne, Germany
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- Toyota launched its 2001 F1 car but elected not to race it
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- Instead they embarked on an ambitious testing regime
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- Toyota tested at several F1 venues including the A1 Ring
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- They tested at Sepang in 2001 as well
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- Toyota visited Spa too
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- And Toyota tested at Suzuka in preparation for their home Grand Prix
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- They also practised pit stops
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- The Toyota F1 team in 2002
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- Ove Andersson, the first man to run Toyota’s F1 programme
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- F1 rookie Allan McNish raced for the team in 2002
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- Mika Salo scored a point for sixth in the team’s first race but was passed by Webber
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- The Toyota wasn’t up to keeping Ferraris behind – but not much was in 2002
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- Mika Salo at Interlagos
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- Salo defends his position at Montreal
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- McNish was dropped at the end of 2002
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- Like McNish, Salo was told at the Belgian Grand Prix he was being dropped for 2003
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- After the 2002 season Toyota tested Japanese driver Toranosuke Takagi
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- Olivier Panis made his Toyota debut at Melbourne, as did team mate Cristiano da Matta
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- A Toyota TF103 races out of the tunnel at Monaco
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- Panis heads Massa at Monaco
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- Future Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher keeps da Matta behind
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- The two Toyotas led during the crazy 2003 British Grand Prix
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- The 2003 Toyota was not much quicker than less expensive cars
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- Da Matta holds off Raikkonen at Suzuka
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- Panis on the grid in Spain in 2004
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- Da Matta gets tips from Brazilian champion Emerson Fittipaldi in 2004
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- Toyotas form improved after the TF104B was introduced at the Hockenheimring
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- Da Matta was dropped after just one race with the revised TF104B
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- After Ricardo Zonta took da Matta’s place, Ryan Briscoe became Toyota’s test driver
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- Panis in a La Source traffic jam
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- Panis keeps a train of cars behind at Monza
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- Zonta under pressure from Minardi’s Gianmaria Bruni at Monza
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- Panis waves to the crowd in a classic Toyota at Suzuka
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- Michael Schumacher shapes up to pass Toyota newcomer Trulli at Suzuka
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- 2005 was Toyota’s best season with five podium finishes
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- Trulli shared the front row of the grid with Fisichella at Melbourne in 2005
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- Trulli chases Alonso into turn one at Sepang in 2005
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- Second place for Jarno Trulli at Bahrain in 2005
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- Ralf Schumacher started slowly in 2005 but improved towards the end of the year
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- Trulli in action at Montreal
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- Trulli celebrates another podium in Spain
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- Toyota technical chief Mike Gascoyne meets Aresenal football manager Arsene Wenger
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- Ricardo Zonta gets it wrong during practice
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- Ralf Schumacher in the tunnel at Monaco
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- Toyota on the grid at Magny-Cours in 2005
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- Ralf Schumacher scales Eau Rouge
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- Ralf Schumacher in the pit lane
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- A special helmet design for Trulli at Suzuka
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- Ralf Schumacher scored a podium in the last race of 2005 at Shanghai
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- Toyota’s motorhome
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- Ralf Schumacher scored Toyota’s only podium of 2006 at Melbourne
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- Toyota mechanics celebrate Ralf Schumacher’s podium
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- The Stig sampled the 2006 Toyota in a publicity event for the London Motor Show
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- Jarno Trulli took to producing wine…
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- 2007: Another year, another lavish launch
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- Jarno trulli and Ralf Schumacher began their third season together in 2007
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- But the 2007 season brought more indifferent results at Toyota
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- Shoichiro Toyoda meets Bernie Ecclestone
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- Pit stop for Trulli at Indianapolis
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- A rare points score for the team in 2007 came courtesy of Ralf Schumacher in Hungary
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- Trulli struggles in a downpour at the Nurburgring
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- A Toyota F1 car on the team’s seven-post rig
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- Toyota fans in Belgium
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- Toyota’s only consolation was that Honda did worse in 2007
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- Ralf Schumacher marks his last race for Toyota in 2007
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- GP2 champion Timo Glock joined the team in 2008, taking Ralf Schumacher’s place
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- Toyota remembered the late Ove Andersson with a black band on their cars in France
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- Trulli brought some cheer to the team with a podium finish
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- Glock celebrates his first podium at the Hungaroring
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- Trulli got in among the title contenders at Brazil
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- Glock unwittingly played a starring role in the 2008 title decider
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- The TF109 looked promising in testing ahead of the 2009 season
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- Its double diffuser helped the team to the front of the pack
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- Glock gets on two wheels at Melbourne
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- Trulli headed the first and only all-Toyota front row at Bahrain
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- Trulli gets a push in the rain-hit Malaysian Grand Prix
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- Toyota slumped horribly at Monaco
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- Glock sampled a Toyota GT One in 2009
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- Glock driving a Toyota GT One
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- Glock celebrates his podium finish at Singapore in 2009
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- Leg injuries kept Glock out of the last three races
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- Trulli thanks the team in Japanese fashion after his Suzuka podium
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- Glock’s stand-in Kobayashi impressed by taking on Jenson Button
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- Three days after this picture was taken, Toyota announced it was quitting F1
Images (C) Toyota F1 World
“Toyota: they arrived, they spent staggering amounts of money without winning anything, and then they gave up.”
That is the best summary of Toyota’s efforts in Formula 1 I’ve ever heard!
Never in the annals of motorsport history has so much effort been devoted to accomplishing so little…
So much for “Practice Makes Perfect”…
Probably the least important part of it all, but they never got around to having a proper livery did they? I mean talk about uninspired and uninspiring.
That’s a great front angle photo on McNish there, too bad we don’t get those in the races these days.
For years Toyota drivers complained about the car not being good enough. Toyota should have considered with whether their drivers were good enough. If rumours are to be believed, the team spent as much as $600 million in a single season. They should have dedicated $75 million of that to first rate drivers.
Totally agree.
Although they did spend quite a bit on Ralf Schumacher….. I think that about sums it up!
Toyota made bad choices when it came to drivers. Ralf Shoe was a bad option in my opinion. He was just a solid dependable, driver who won the odd race. Trulli is just a solid, dependable driver who qualifies well. Even though they all did well in other formulae McNish, Da Matta and Zonta are all average by F1 standards.
If all Toyota wanted was a race win, they should have employed a driver who was a “race winner” with raw pace. Some one like JPM wouldn’t have been a bad bet. Not my favourite driver by any stretch of the imagination, but he was streaky, fast and on his day he could really get the best out of a car.
I for one will miss Toyota’s Presence in F1. People that bash Toyota are idiots. And majority are fans of other F1 teams. So what if they didn’t win a race? Does that affect you in any way? F1 will be hell of a lot boring next year without Toyota, BMW and Honda. Good luck with that. I am sure I won’t be watching the pinnacle of motorsports which is competed by the likes of teams named Campos, manor, force India and Redbull that have no direct input towards the automotive industry. If Toyota does return to F1 in the future I hope they do the sensible thing and supply engines to a team and possibly use cologne as their base for engine operations. Or even supply McLaren when they run out of their Mercedes contract in 2015.
Toyota may be a large auto manufacturer, but a can of Red Bull sets my pulse racing a lot more than cars like the Prius, Yaris and Land Cruiser do!
Why are people who bash Toyota idiots? They were in F1 for almost a decade with probably the biggest budget in every season and they didn’t manage one win. I am not glad that they are leaving but you can’t say their time in F1 was a success.
Why would someone place Heidfeld in the vicinity of Sutil, Kubika and Wurz. and Wurz is even on some sort of platform.
Poor Heidfeld looks like a dwarf.
Yeah…couldn’t agree more with The Sri Lankan…
Toyota was a solid ($$$$$$) team, with real aspirations…unfortunately they finally ran out of ventilations.
We were lucky to have Toyota. I remember years when there were really only a few teams with the resources to compete in a serious way….it didn’t make for very interesting racing. To knock the guys from Cologne has always been too easy and too “smart”.
If we go through a few years with one or two teams dominating to the point that races become forgone conclusions then we may look back at the years with grids full of “serious” teams as very good times.
(Who is that very large, and very silver, giganticus standing in the shadows?)
my comments is only partly related to Toyota.
as you know tomorrow and the day after tomorrow will take place Trulli’s and Salo’s nascar test with the Michael Waltrip Racing, which is also related to Toyota.
These 2 guys are like the frames, but not for only Toyota, maybe Lotus as well.
Salo was the last signed driver of the classic Lotus team in 1994, for the last few races, before they wnet bankrupt. Trulli could be the first signing of the new Lotus.
Salo was the first signed driver of Toyota, Trulli, well, he is not their last sigining, but he was there on the last race of the Japanese team.
and now they are testing together in North America. interesting at least
Quite interesting facts. Based on this Lotus simply have to sign Trulli
I have always asked myself what companies like Toyota get out of being in F1. I can understand that for car makers whose image is primarily linked to performance (Ferrari, Mclaren, Porsche, Lamborghini, Aston Martin etc) being in F1 can be a good marketing move – and winning is important. But, for companies whose cars are bought for their confort, reliability, safety, low fuel consumption, price or other day-to-day criteria like these – what is the attraction of being in F1? Even if you become a regular winner, I have doubts you’d sell a single extra car for your troubles.
what i have been saying all this time is well explained by none other than mr Mika Salo here:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80183
Nice job Keith,I still feel bad for Kobayashi,as he and Toyota both looked good for pairing up in 2010.Hope he gets a seat somewhere.