What's wrong with Toyota?
- Thread starter Sonzilla
- 9 comments
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Chassis: TF106
Engine: RVX-06
Tyres: Bridgestone
First Season: 2002
World Championships: 0
Highest race finish: 2 (x2)
Pole Positions: 2
Fastest Laps: 1
2005: Breakthrough season sees team score two poles and five podiums en route to fourth in constructors' championship, just behind Ferrari. High point is Bahrain, where Jarno Trulli second and Ralf Schumacher fourth. Low point is Schumacher's high-speed crash at Indianapolis, ahead of Michelin's race withdrawal.
2004: Team unexpectedly drop Cristiano da Matta from his race seat after Germany, replacing him with Ricardo Zonta. 2005 signing Jarno Trulli races in the final two rounds, replacing Zonta in Japan and Panis in Brazil. Finish a disappointing eighth after scoring points in just three races.
2003: Eighth place in the final standings masks some solid progress by the Japanese team. Lead the British Grand Prix for 18 laps, finish fifth and sixth in Germany and qualify third and fourth at Suzuka.
2002: The team's debut year. The team finishes in tenth position in the Constructors' Championship having scored two points. The team announces that drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish are to be replaced for the 2003 season.
2001: The test car is launched at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France. An extensive test programme commences.
2000 Creation of the Toyota team. New R&D facility opens in Cologne and the company's first V10 engine is fired up for the first time.
Engine: RVX-06
Tyres: Bridgestone
First Season: 2002
World Championships: 0
Highest race finish: 2 (x2)
Pole Positions: 2
Fastest Laps: 1
2005: Breakthrough season sees team score two poles and five podiums en route to fourth in constructors' championship, just behind Ferrari. High point is Bahrain, where Jarno Trulli second and Ralf Schumacher fourth. Low point is Schumacher's high-speed crash at Indianapolis, ahead of Michelin's race withdrawal.
2004: Team unexpectedly drop Cristiano da Matta from his race seat after Germany, replacing him with Ricardo Zonta. 2005 signing Jarno Trulli races in the final two rounds, replacing Zonta in Japan and Panis in Brazil. Finish a disappointing eighth after scoring points in just three races.
2003: Eighth place in the final standings masks some solid progress by the Japanese team. Lead the British Grand Prix for 18 laps, finish fifth and sixth in Germany and qualify third and fourth at Suzuka.
2002: The team's debut year. The team finishes in tenth position in the Constructors' Championship having scored two points. The team announces that drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish are to be replaced for the 2003 season.
2001: The test car is launched at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France. An extensive test programme commences.
2000 Creation of the Toyota team. New R&D facility opens in Cologne and the company's first V10 engine is fired up for the first time.
- 4,822
- Concord, CA
- kylehnat
I don't think anyone knows what the problem is. They've been sliding backwards in recent years (as has BAR/Honda). With the biggest budget, they should have the resources to fix problems, but it just hasn't happened. On the other hand, if they pay Ralf Schumacher $20 million/year, they probably aren't too smart with money.
Brett
Premium
- 8,632
- Oklahoma
I think the combination of Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher is not a very good one. Jarno Trulli has been able to put the Toyota high up on the grid in qualifying, only to be a very slow driver when it comes time for the race on Sunday. Today's Canadian Grand Prix was a very good example of this. Trulli held up Schumacher for a very good while and slowed Schumacher from challenging both Kimi and Alonso early on. Ralf Schumacher underachieves much more often than he overachieves and that is a bad thing. It also doesn't help that he is very highly overpaid.
Better drivers would definitely help their cause and hopefully Toyota will be able to sign some better drivers for this next year.
The transition from Michelin to Bridgestone tires this year also probably did not help things, since Toyota has been running Michelin tires for a couple years now.
It also seems that Toyota need to improve most of their package. They have had a couple of engine failures and those are never good for results. Toyota also needs to improve the amount of mechanical grip the car produces, along with more aerodynamic grip.
So for the most part, Toyota needs to improve in all areas of their operation.
Better drivers would definitely help their cause and hopefully Toyota will be able to sign some better drivers for this next year.
The transition from Michelin to Bridgestone tires this year also probably did not help things, since Toyota has been running Michelin tires for a couple years now.
It also seems that Toyota need to improve most of their package. They have had a couple of engine failures and those are never good for results. Toyota also needs to improve the amount of mechanical grip the car produces, along with more aerodynamic grip.
So for the most part, Toyota needs to improve in all areas of their operation.
Blake
Premium
- 10,976
- NSW, Australia
- haswell00
I think that the way they run the operation does not work well in Formula 1. They needed someone aggressive, like Mike. They can’t just take the best odds and point a lot of money at a project and hope it works out.
Ditching him was a very poor decision, in my opinion. Although the results haven’t been where they were last year, in the long term I think Mike was a good prospect for the team.
On the drive front, there are reports that a deal with Trulli until 2009 is almost signed, and although I think Trulli is an okay driver, I think it would be a bad decision to keep the current driver line up for longer than they have to.
It might be an idea to grab hold of Montoya, who is struggling to find a seat for 2007.
Ditching him was a very poor decision, in my opinion. Although the results haven’t been where they were last year, in the long term I think Mike was a good prospect for the team.
On the drive front, there are reports that a deal with Trulli until 2009 is almost signed, and although I think Trulli is an okay driver, I think it would be a bad decision to keep the current driver line up for longer than they have to.
It might be an idea to grab hold of Montoya, who is struggling to find a seat for 2007.
I don't think Ralf or Jarno are good at relaying helpful information to help the technicians set up the car. With a budget that large, I find it hard to believe that the car is that far gone.
If you watched Speed's coverage (can't remember if it was Practice or Qualifying), you heard an excellent/lengthy radio transmission from Rubens Barrichello describing his experience in his car to his tech crew. I found it extremely well thought out and well spoken. You can already see his experience influencing the team in a positive way. It is only reflected more in that Button was using the same brakes as Barrichello in Canada.
If you watched Speed's coverage (can't remember if it was Practice or Qualifying), you heard an excellent/lengthy radio transmission from Rubens Barrichello describing his experience in his car to his tech crew. I found it extremely well thought out and well spoken. You can already see his experience influencing the team in a positive way. It is only reflected more in that Button was using the same brakes as Barrichello in Canada.
Brett
Premium
- 8,632
- Oklahoma
Blake
I completely agree with this. Ralf is only a so-so driver. When he is on, he is very fast; but that does not happen ery much at all these days. Jarno does a good job qualifying most of the time, but very much struggles in the race.
I don't see why Toyota would not want JPM. JPM is a better driver than both Jarno and Ralf at this point in his career and he would be able to get more out of the car than either. He would at least give Toyota better results than what they are already achieving.
