Toyota Racing

F1 team
Constructor_name = flagicon|Japan Toyota Racing
Long_name = Panasonic Toyota Racing

Base = Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Principal = flagicon|Japan Tadashi Yamashina
Engineering Head = flagicon|France Pascal Vasselon [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4878554.stm "Gascoyne leaves Toyota 'amicably'"] " BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 October 2006]
Engineering Head position = Senior General Manager
Director =
Drivers = 11.flagicon|ItalyJarno Trulli
12.flagicon|GermanyTimo Glock
Test_drivers = 36.flagicon|JapanKamui Kobayashi
Chassis = Toyota TF108
Engine = Toyota RVX-08
Tyres = Bridgestone
Debut = 2002 Australian Grand Prix
Final = 2008 Italian Grand Prix
Races = 119
Cons_champ = 0
Drivers_champ = 0
Wins = 0
Poles = 2
Fastest_laps = 1
Last_season = 2007
Last_position = 6th (13 points)

Toyota Racing is a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their TF101 initial car, the team made their debut in 2002. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/1154217.stm "Toyota set for F1 debut"] " BBC Sport Retrieved 5 July 2007] The new team has grown from Toyota's long standing European "Toyota Motorsport" organisation, which has previously competed in the World Rally Championship and the 24 hours of Le Mans. Despite a point in their first ever race," [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=86169&FS=F1 "Beginners luck say Toyota"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 10 July 2007] Toyota F1 have not yet won a grand prix, their best finish being a couple of 2nd place finishes during the 2005 season, when it achieved three podiums and a pole position, as well as finishing fourth in the world constructors' championship with 88 points. [" [http://www.f1network.net/main/s176/st88746.htm "Toyota's History In F1"] " F1network.net Retrieved 5 July 2007] [" [http://www.formula1.com/results/team/2005/2894.html "Toyota F1 2005 Results Summary"] " Formula1.com Retrieved 5 July 2007] [" [http://www.formula1.com/results/team/2005/ "F1 Team Championship 2005"] " Formula1.com Retrieved 5 July 2007]

Toyota has drawn criticism for their lack of results, [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/teams/4250051.stm "Toyota - Pressure mounting"] " BBC Sport Retrieved 15 July 2007] especially after the 2006 Formula One season, when the team's best result was 3rd place in the Australian Grand Prix. Toyota is an extremely well funded team, being a big manufacturer, and despite this coupled with their huge ambitions, strong results have never been consistent. [" [http://www.itv-f1.com/Teams.aspx?id=2415 "Team history - Toyota Racing"] " ITV Sport Retrieved 5 July 2007]

The team's drivers in 2007 were Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher. Schumacher was not signed to continue for the 2008 season. The team tried to sign up double world champion Fernando Alonso, but the Spaniard declinedFact|date=November 2007. The team have signed reigning GP2 Champion Timo Glock for 2008.cite news | url = http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/11/7106.html | title = Glock to race for Toyota in 2008 | publisher = formula1.com |date=2007-11-19 | accessdate = 2007-11-19] .Overall Toyota powered cars had been on various Formula one podiums 12 times.

Racing history

1957-2002: Origins

Toyota made an early entrance into motorsport when a Toyopet Crown entered the Round Australia Trial in 1957. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,809902,00.html www.time.com] Retrieved 8 March 2007] The Formula One team's roots can be traced to a later development in 1972, when Swede Ove Andersson's Andersson Motorsport team used a Toyota Celica 1600GT in the RAC Rally of Great Britain. The team was later renamed "Toyota Team Europe" and then, after being bought by Toyota in 1993, "Toyota Motorsport GmbH". The rally team won four World Rally Championship drivers' titles, most notably with Carlos Sainz, as well as three constructors' titles. [World Rally Championship for drivers [http://www.rallybase.nl/index.php?type=championlist&subchamptype=wcd www.rallybase.nl] Retrieved 1 February 2007] The FIA banned the team from competition for 12 months in 1995 for running illegal parts. Toyota continued to win rallies on their return in 1996, but did not achieve the same level of dominance.Toyota Motorsport [http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/con-toyot.html www.grandprix.com] Retrieved 1 February 2007.]

In 1997 the team moved into track racing with a sports car project, twice failing to win the Le Mans 24 Hours. On 21 January 1999 Toyota announced its move into Formula One. [cite news| first = Alexandra| last = Harney| title = Toyota Motor set to join Formula 1| work = Financial Times| page = 23| date = 1999-01-22| accessdate = 2007-04-20] The company ended its rallying program in order to concentrate on Formula One. On June 30, 2000 the team secured its place as the 12th entry for the 2002 Formula One season. Originally intending to enter F1 in 2001, Toyota forfeited an $11Million deposit by delaying their entry. [Toyota set for F1 debut [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/1154217.stm news.bbc.co.uk Retrieved 1 February 2007] Unusually, Toyota opted to start their own works team rather than partner with a specialist race team and chassis manufacturer.Mark Hughes " [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0754815099/ The Unofficial Complete Encyclopedia Of Formula One] " Page 131, Line 3-6 Hermes House ISBN 1-84309-864-4] The team was also set up away from Formula One's traditional manufacturing centre in 'Motorsport Valley' in the United Kingdom. During 2001, Toyota tested with their prototype TF101 (AM01) car and drivers at 11 F1 circuits. [ [http://www.toyota-f1.com/public/en/motorsports/evolution/tf101.html www.toyota-f1.com] Retrieved 1 February 2007.] The idea was to gain telemetry data for the races, which allowed them to make aerodynamic changes for the TF102, and for the drivers to experience the tracks in the new cars. Finn Mika Salo who can communicate in Nipponggo and Briton Allan McNish who drove the GT-One during the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans were appointed as drivers for test the car, thus Toyota made the driver lineup that valued the test program. The cars were in different livery to that eventually used for the 2002 race car. [" [http://toyotatf105.free.fr/Presentation/Toyota_F1/TOYOTA_F1_english.html "Toyota TF101 to TF105"] "Retrieved 17 June 2007 ]

2002-2004: Early years

2002

Toyota F1 debuted in Formula One competition in 2002, with McNish and Salo driving the Toyota TF102, designed by Gustav Brunner. Despite reportedly having one of the biggest budgets in Formula One, [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4157743.stm "Toyota predict massive progress"] " BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 October 2006] 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. Their first point was scored in their first race, the Australian Grand Prix, when half the field was eliminated by a first corner accident caused by Ralf Schumacher colliding with Rubens Barrichello. [" [http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2002/5/ "2002 Australian GP Results"] " Formula1.com Retrieved 4 July 2007] The team could have scored another point in the next race at the Malaysian Grand Prix, but Salo suffered an electrical misfire and the team fumbled McNish's pit stop. The Scot thus lost ground, and finished seventh, just out of the points, behind Sauber's Felipe Massa. [Alan Henry ed. (2002) 'Malaysian GP' "Autocourse 2002 - 2003" p.105 Hazleton Publishing ISBN 1-903135-10-9] The Brazilian Grand Prix, third race of the season, yielded Toyota's second and final point, once again scored by Salo. McNish endured a huge crash during practice for the end-of-season Japanese Grand Prix and missed the race on medical advice. [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=108903&FS=F1 "Huge crash for McNish in Japanese GP qualifying"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 11 July 2007] [Alan Henry ed. (2002) 'Japanese GP' "Autocourse 2002 - 2003" p.233 Hazleton Publishing ISBN 1-903135-10-9] Neither McNish nor Salo were offered jobs for 2003. [Alan Henry ed. (2002) 'Panasonic Toyota Racing' "Autocourse 2002 - 2003" pp.82-84 Hazleton Publishing ISBN 1-903135-10-9]

2003

For the 2003 season, Toyota signed Brazilian Cristiano da Matta, who had won the American 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. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/2282359.stm "Toyota close on Da Matta"] " BBC Sport Retrieved 17 June 2007 ] The team managed several points finishes during the season, but only as high as fifth place in Germany. [" [http://www.toyota-f1.com/public/en/motorsports/roadtof1/2000.html "The road to F1"] " Toyota F1.com Retrieved 4 July 2007] High points of the season included Toyotas running first and second in the British Grand Prix, thanks to making their pit stops whilst the safety car was out, [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=130657&FS=F1 "British GP 2003:Toyota race notes"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 11 July 2007] and Panis qualifying third at the US Grand Prix. [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=138179&FS=F1 "US GP Qualifying:Toyota race notes"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 11 July 2007] At the end of the season, the team had accumulated sixteen points, an improvement on the previous season, but still only 8th in the constructors' championship, ahead of the struggling Jordan Grand Prix team and Minardi. [Alan Henry ed. (2003) 'Panasonic Toyota Racing' "Autocourse 2003 - 2004" pp.82-83 Hazleton Publishing ISBN 1-903135-20-6]

2004

Toyota retained their driver line-up for 2004, but the season proved difficult. Both Toyotas were disqualified from the Canadian Grand Prix for running illegal parts. Cristiano da Matta, after disappointing performances, left the team after the German Grand Prix, and was replaced by fellow Brazilian Ricardo Zonta, who had been the team's third driver. Zonta drove for Toyota for the following four rounds, before being replaced by Italian Jarno Trulli, who had left the Renault works team. Panis, meanwhile, announced his retirement from racing, and bowed out before the final race of the season in Brazil to allow Zonta, who had stepped aside for Trulli, to compete in his home race. [Olivier Panis [http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s176/st88717.htm www.sportnetwork.net] Retrieved 2 February 2007.] Neither Trulli or Zonta scored points for the team in those late season races, although Trulli qualified well in both Grands Prix he took part in. Toyota brought in ex-Jordan and Renault designer Mike Gascoyne early in the year to oversee the development of the car, which improved during the year. The team scored just over half the points they scored in 2003, but equalled their best finish of fifth at the United States Grand Prix with Panis and maintained their 8th place in the constructors' championship. [Alan Henry ed. (2004) 'Panasonic Toyota Racing' "Autocourse 2004 - 2005" pp.66-67 Hazleton Publishing ISBN 1-903135-35-4]

Industrial espionage

2004 also saw Toyota being accused of industrial espionage in the case of stolen data files from Ferrari. This following a season where many Formula 1 fans commented on similarities of the Toyota TF104 to the Ferrari F2003-GA. The district attorney of Cologne, where Toyota F1 is based, led the investigation saying "It’s an immense amount of material. We’d need over 10 thousand pages to print everything." Toyota refused to send the data back to Italy because they did not want Ferrari to take advantage of their own data, which had been mixed in with Ferrari's. [" [http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/formulaone/14217/ ""Toyota Used Stolen Ferrari Data," Says Attorney"] " SPEED Channel. Retrieved 3 December 2004] [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4618260.stm "Ex-Toyota men face spying charges"] " BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 January 2006]

2005-2006: Success

2005

2005 saw an improvement in Toyota's fortunes. The team retained Trulli for the season but replaced Zonta with race-winner Ralf Schumacher from Williams. During the team's launch for their 2005 car, the TF105, Schumacher said that he had a better chance of winning the title at Toyota than he ever did at Williams." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4157625.stm "Ralf in dig at old team Williams"] " BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 November 2006] [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=173042&FS=F1 "Ralf ready to move on"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 15 July 2007] The team also supplied engines to the Jordan team. Toyota made a good start to the season, with Jarno Trulli qualifying second at the opening round in Australia and finishing second at the following two races in Malaysia and Bahrain. Results petered away slightly from this point, with Trulli scoring his only other podium with 3rd place at Spain and Ralf Schumacher rewarding the squad with 3rd place at both Hungary and China. Nevertheless, the 2005 season was 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 Trulli qualified in pole position, but like all the drivers using Michelin tyres, retired before the start of the race.

2006

Toyota retained the same driver lineup for 2006, although it switched to Bridgestone tyres. The team was the first to unveil their new car, a move intended to give them an advantage over their rivals, but the car's performance in testing was average. Ralf Schumacher's third place in Australia was Toyota's only podium finish during 2006. Their highest race finishes thereafter were 4th at France with Schumacher and also at the Brickyard, where Trulli started from the back and fought his way through to beat champion Fernando Alonso's Renault. Trulli came close to another podium in Monaco, but his engine failed during the late stages of the race. Jarno Trulli suffered a slight problem during the team's home race (the Japanese Grand Prix) and delayed team-mate Ralf Schumacher. In the final race - the Brazilian Grand Prix - both of Toyota's cars retired in the early laps with suspension failures. Despite these set-backs, the team enjoyed the second-best season performance in their history, scoring 35 points and finishing in sixth place, one point behind BMW Sauber.

Toyota surprised the Formula One community by dropping Mike Gascoyne from their technical department after the Melbourne race, especially as the Englishman had contributed to their rise in competitiveness during 2005. It was the result of a disagreement between Gascoyne and Toyota President John Howett over how the team should be run in the future. Gascoyne disliked the corporate way the team's management operated and was duly dismissed. It took a while for Toyota to replace the technical director, eventually promoting Pascal Vasselon to the role, saying that a technical department run by one man alone was becoming old fashioned. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4756503.stm "Toyota ring changes post-Gascoyne"] " BBC Sport Retrieved 12 June 2007]

2007 onwards: Alliance with Williams

2007

Trulli and Schumacher opted to stay with Toyota for 2007. The Toyota TF107 was officially launched on January 12, 2007 in Cologne, Germany. [cite news| title =Toyota aiming for victory (again)| publisher =Grandprix.com| url Toyota began their winter testing programme in Valencia on 29 January 2007. Toyota enjoyed a competitive start to the pre-season testing at the Valencia circuit. =http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17940.html| date =2007-01-12| accessdate =2007-01-12] Toyota's supply of customer engines was moved from the Midland F1 team to British former constructors' champions Williams who had, by their own standards, underperformed with Cosworth engines during 2006. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/5219520.stm "Williams sign Toyota engine deal"] " BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 November 2006]

Ralf Schumacher scored Toyota's first point of the season with 8th place in the year's opening Grand Prix in Melbourne. Jarno Trulli scored four points in the next two races in Malaysia and Bahrain with two 7th places in each event. Schumacher struggled in both of those, finishing no higher than 12th. During the four week break that followed the third round, Toyota tested at the Circuit de Catalunya, where the team stated improvements were made. Team president John Howett said Toyota were looking to close down on third-placed team BMW Sauber in the constructors' standings, having maintained 5th since Malaysia. [" [http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=39156 "Toyota sets its sights on BMW"] " ITV Sport Retrieved 9 May 2007] This claim was met by a couple of performances which yielded no points.

The Canadian Grand Prix ended their points drought. Ralf Schumacher scored a point for finishing 8th, and at the following event at Indianapolis, Trulli finished in 6th place. Schumacher meanwhile, was involved in a crash with David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello at the opening corner.

A run of incidents meant the team did not score points until the Hungarian Grand Prix. Here Schumacher scored 3 points after he qualified in 5th place and finished 6th. [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=264216&FS=F1 "Hungarian GP 2007 - Toyota race notes"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 10 August 2007]

On 1 October, Schumacher announced that he would be leaving Toyota at the end of the 2007 season for a new challenge. [ [http://www.ralf-schumacher.de/en/news/366.html Ralf leaves Toyota] ralf-schumacher.de - 1st October, 2007]

Toyota ended the year with an 8th place finish at Interlagos for Jarno Trulli. Altogether, 13 points were scored, the team's lowest tally since 2004 and less than they achieved in their second-ever season. The team admitted not fulfilling their pre-season promises, and vowed to have a completely different car for 2008. [" [http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=41239 "Toyota promises 'very different' TF108"] " ITV Sport Retrieved 8 November 2007]

2008

While retaining Jarno Trulli, Toyota have replaced Ralf Schumacher with reigning GP2 champion Timo Glock for the 2008 season. After two years of unspectacular results following their most successful season of 2005, the team's third principal, Tadashi Yamashina, was told he had two years to turn Toyota into a successful F1 team. [" [http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=41535 "Yamashina given two years to succeed"] " ITV Sport Retrieved 1st January 2008] The team's new car, the Toyota TF108, was launched on the 10 January 2008. [" [http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=41574 "Toyota aims for big improvement with the TF108"] " ITV Sport Retrieved 14 January 2008] The team's first points came in Sepang, where Jarno Trulli qualified in 5th place (albeit being promoted to 3rd following the McLaren team being penalised) and went on to finish the race in 4th. [" [http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=42107 "Trulli confident more to come after finishing fourth"] " 23 March 2008 ITV Sport ] This proved not to be a one off, with Trulli getting 6th place next time out in Bahrain, and then 8th in Spain after some late-race trouble. After retiring in the opening two rounds followed by mid-field finishes, Timo Glock was able to secure a 4th place and 5 points for Toyota at Montreal, in addition to Trulli's 3 points brought Toyota up 5th place in the Constructor's standings. Both cars were able to lead the race at some point. [" [http://www.toyota-f1.com/public/en/gp2008/07_canada/race.html "Race round up - Grand Prix of Canada, 2008"] "] More points were to follow at France, where Trulli managed to hold off Heikki Kovalainen in the late race stages to collect 3rd place. This was Toyota's first podium finish in over two years. Trulli dedicated this podium to former team boss Ove Andersson, who died in the week prior to the race, in a car accident. [" [http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=43089 "Trulli: Podium if for Andersson"] " ITV Sport Retrieved 22 June 2008] Trulli scored points in Britain, but despite a solid showing during most of the race in Germany, neither driver scored points; Glock suffered a rear suspension failure that caused a spectacular crash, while Trulli was passed in the later stages of the race. The team's fortunes looked up in Hungary, where Glock put in a good qualifying run that ultimately led to a second place finish in the race, giving him his first F1 podium and Toyota's second podium finish of the season. At the next race in Valencia, Jarno Trulli was able to gather a 5th place finish while teammate Glock fought his way up to finish 7th moving Toyota ten points ahead of Renault in the constructors' standings.

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 14 August 2006, Toyota left the GPMA, stating that the body had achieved its objectives. [Official: Toyota quits GPMA [http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=29009 www.pitpass.com] Retrieved 2 February 2007]

ponsorship

Tobacco sponsorship in Formula One has become a major issue in the past decade, but Toyota F1 have never had cigarette advertising, and have thus not come under fire from this argument. Panasonic has been Toyota's title sponsor since the team's first season in 2002. [" [http://www.sportandtechnology.com/features/0334.html "Q&A: Panasonic and Torino 2006"] " ArkSports Retrieved 4 July 2007] After Toyota's upturn in form from 2005, Panasonic extended its sponsorship deal. Denso (a member of Toyota Group) and Esso have also been with Toyota F1 since that first year. The team's most recent partner is India's Kingfisher Airlines, with the deal being announced at the launch of the Toyota TF107 car in January 2007. [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=241000&FS=F1 "New partnership for Toyota"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 17 June 2007 ] This deal ended however when Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya purchased the Spyker F1 team.

tatistics

Other Toyota F1 statistics are in the info box at the top of this article. This section displays more in-depth statistics.

* Points = 204
* First Point Scored = 2002 Australian Grand Prix (Mika Salo)
* First Pole Position = 2005 United States Grand Prix (Jarno Trulli)
* First Fastest L
2005 Belgian Grand Prix (Ralf Schumacher)
* Most Successful Toyota Driver (Poles) = Jarno Trulli & Ralf Schumacher (1 each)
* Most Successful Toyota Driver (Fastest Laps) = Ralf Schumacher (1)

Notable drivers

Based on a racer's credentials, Olivier Panis could be classed as Toyota F1's first notable driver, being their first man with a Grand Prix win to his name. However, that win was in unusual circumstances, when many of the front-runners (drivers for teams like Williams, Ferrari and McLaren) dropped out in the wet, tricky conditions. Otherwise, Panis had never driven for front-running teams, and joined Toyota in 2003 after a season with BAR that yielded just 4 points. Therefore, the following are racers of calibre who have shone for Toyota, and who have had reasonable success in F1 generally.

Ralf Schumacher

The German driver came to Toyota in 2005 from Williams with 6 Grand Prix wins to his name. After a 2004 season with the Grove-based team that yielded just one top-three race finish, a need for change was felt and Schumacher joined Toyota. The Japanese team had yet to score a podium finish. However he settled in comfortably. [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=173042&FS=F1 "Ralf ready to move on"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 15 July 2007]

Schumacher appeared slower than Trulli in the first few races of the 2005 season, as the latter hit the headlines as he took Toyota to new heights. But Schumacher caught up, and ended the season on top, getting two podiums, the first of which was chasing his brother Michael for 2nd place in the Hungarian race. [" [http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=195865&FS=F1 "2005 Hungarian GP - Toyota race notes"] " Motorsport.com Retrieved 15 July 2007]

He struggled throughout 2006 after saying he expected Toyota to score its first win, and once again, his best result was just 3rd. Schumacher split with long term manager Willi Weber during this season, [" [http://www.formula1.com/news/3811.html "Ralf Schumacher splits with manager"] " Formula1.com Retrieved 17 June 2007 ] and partnered with Hans Mahr, who tried to project Schumacher back into a winning team - a move that did not work.

Schumacher, however, wanted to prove he was still content with being at Toyota F1 through the following close season, and said he was more likely to still win the F1 title with Toyota than any other team, and that Toyota would be the team of the future. On 1 October, Schumacher announced that he would be leaving Toyota at the end of the 2007 season for a new challenge, although at the time, he did not clearly state what this challenge would be. [ [http://www.ralf-schumacher.de/en/news/366.html Ralf leaves Toyota] ralf-schumacher.de - 1st October, 2007]

Jarno Trulli

Being Toyota's first recruitment of a top driver and Grand Prix winner, Jarno Trulli's move from Renault was big news. It was late during the 2004 season, and Trulli was dropped from Renault's race line-up after a season in which he struggled compared to his team-mate Fernando Alonso, and replaced by Jacques Villeneuve. Soon after, Toyota F1 revealed that Trulli would race for them during the 2005 season and beyond. However, Olivier Panis retired from racing before the year was out, leaving a space in Toyota's race attack, meaning Trulli was promoted rather earlier than anticipated. Qualifying 6th on his Toyota debut in Japan was the start of a competitive run for the team. No points were scored that year, although Trulli comfortably outpaced his team-mate Ricardo Zonta.

Trulli settled in well with Toyota, finding it easier to focus when not on tenterhooks with the Team Principal as he was with Renault's Flavio Briatore. As such, the first spark of form that that aspect was yielding was when Trulli qualified 2nd at Melbourne - Toyota's first front row start. He dropped off in the race with tyre trouble, but then went on to score Toyota's first podiums in Malaysia and Bahrain.

However, a term was created in that year - the 'Trulli Train'. [" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/drivers/4250077.stm "Jarno Trulli"] " BBC Sport Retrieved 15 May 2007] This highlighted a recurring snag to Trulli's career. It referred to when Trulli qualified in a high position, but dropped away in the races (mainly due to tyre degradation in 2005). The result was the build up of a queue behind Trulli's car, which was present at numerous races throughout 2005, albeit not in his podium-scoring performances. Team-mate Schumacher tended not to suffer from these problems as much, partly because he often did not qualify as far up the grid as Trulli. He trailed off towards the end of the 2005 season, ending the year behind Ralf Schumacher.

Mechanical failure was a factor with the Italian's 2006 campaign, with the loss of podium finishes occurring all too often. It took Trulli until round 9 to score points, but he did so with 6th place after qualifying 4th. More great results followed, with his run from 22nd to 4th at Indianapolis standing out. However, it was a year with a notable lack of points scored, and did nothing for Trulli's reputation, allowing his critics to claw back at him.

The 2007 season was the first in which, when paired together at the Japanese team, Trulli outscored Ralf Schumacher overall. While Schumacher left the team, Trulli's new team-mate was the current GP2 Champion Timo Glock.

Complete Formula One results

() (results in bold indicate pole position)* Season in progress

ee also

* Toyota
* Tsutomu Tomita
* John Howett
* Toyota Motorsport

External links

* [http://www.toyota-f1.com/public/en/index_e.html Toyota F1's official website]
* [http://www.4mula1.ro/history/team/Toyota Toyota statistics]

References

Formula One race and championship results are taken from [http://www.formula1.com/archive/season/2006.html www.formula1.com/archive] Retrieved 1 February 2007.