Toyota is running into the same problems Ford ran into when they ran their Jaguar team into F1 from 2000-2004, they are so huge but so unfocused on Grand Prix racing. Too much committee, no ruthless, smart, nor experienced strongman at the helm. It just doesn't work.
I think we tend to pick on Toyota, Honda, and Ford (Jaguar) because they are large companies that you'd imagine to do well in a sport that churns through hundreds of millions of dollars yearly. Instead, it makes them look inept and clueless at what F1 racing is all about.
I tend to think if it were TVR, Tommy Kaira, Ariel, Saleen, Mosler, et al running an F1 team and taking a Minardi or Osella-like place in F1, it would probably be a bit more "forgivable" because they're smaller companies with an enthusiast bent.
If Toyota left, the F1 world would be a duller place. Just.
I disagree, they'd probably be forgotten rather quickly, as they left almost no unique thumbprint on the sport. What did they innovate? Who drove for them? There's not much legend, or scandal, or oddity, no wins or titles to go with the Toyota name in F1.
Toyota isn't run by bumbling idiots, and they do have a professional Grand Prix racing team, with likely no expense spared. They lack reliablity, consistency, and outright speed. If they want a title, or even get up onto the sharp end of the grid and podiums on a regular basis, they need to really innovate to muscle their way to the front. They need real star drivers, too...but you don't convince stars to come to your team when you've never done better than 3rd place after 6 years. Toyota was impressive through 2005, but the last two years have been really disappointing, a downward turn in results, rarely shining except when faster cars fell out.
Jarno Trulli is no longer the speed demon he was; the Renault was a good car in 2004, and he took a sort of lucky win. He was impressive from his debut to the early-2000s, but I don't imagine he has the outright speed of the top guys on a week-to-week basis, now that he's in his 12th year in the sport. If Timo Glock doesn't outrun him, he's not going to last the season, although to be fair he had crap machinery for his 4 races in the Jordan back in 2004, so it's hard to say.
Honda, on the other hand, had a good 2004, a "meh" 2005, a better 2006, and a dreadful 2007. Honda know this is an important year for them as well.
