Toyota Attempts To Salvage F1 Efforts With Management Change

I heard about this the other day. Now it is official. Toyota is very upset that the F1 title has fallen to them as easily as in the 60’s. Basically it seems they thought the title would just come to them with all of their sales successes, but they are finding that the technical expertise needed remains just out of their reach.

Rumors have it that if they continue to disappoint they will pull the F1 effort all together to pursue more obtainable goals.

— PlanoA4 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 11:50:42 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Toyota will use the Corolla F1 kart to begin with.

— EL34 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 11:51:34 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -3   

With a budget the size of Toyota's, they should be competitive with Renault and Ferrari by now. I'm glad to see they're taking steps to address the problem.

— 02WRX (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 12:13:55 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Will, You have a point in there somewhere!

You pick what you drive for wherever reasons you have. Warren Buffet drives a ford, obviously he doesn't really care about if he is seen in it.

EL34- To ass-u-me you can't afford something really shows everyone else how shallow you are. A car is simply a poor investment to many, and a social statement for others.

To assume the financial status of an individual based on a motor vehicle proves you are not a person worthy of judgment of others. Your quick to judge statement show you are probably not an individual that controls any sums of real money, or you would know otherwise.

How quickly our statements can haunt us.

— PlanoA4 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 12:46:05 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

Ahhh you are correct it is a EL34 imposter!

— PlanoA4 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 1:44:44 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Do you have anything better to do than to bash Toyota,you troll!!

— 2JZSoarer (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 10:57:43 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

Toyota needs to just give up. They can't even make a performance sports car, let alone be expected to produce a competitive F1 vehicle. Toyota is a loser, and this also, interestingly enough, describes their owners.

— AUDIMAN4 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 1:10:35 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -4   

A car is never an investment, a car is just that a car, something to get you from point A to point B. I enjoy driving so I tend to buy more sporting car like BMW. Warren Buffet obviously does not care about driving pleasure so he drives a FORD. To some it's a means of flaunting what you have but hey to each his own. You can't say that a guy likes to show off is stupid (he can't be too stupid if he can afford a Ferrari, I would like to be that stupid too), he maybe shallow but not stupid, and yes a car can be a financial statement if it's a Ferrari or Rolls since you have to make kudos amount of money in order to afford one. Just the insurance for those things alone would be enough payment for a nice car already.

— middleman (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 2:13:34 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Isnt everyone just filled with love today.
It started with the title of this post... Toyota attempts to SALVAGE...
To me this represents just one more example of Toyota's approach to keep working on something until they get it right. Instead of some manufacturers that start with something good and destroy it. (Camaro, T-bird, Jag, Bangle, etc)

— 1970toyotamarc (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 2:58:55 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

Strangely, while its easy to disparage the lack of success by Toyota. Its important to note that
1) Mercedes
2) BMW
3) Honda
have nearly the same budgets as Toyota but are equally unsuccessful. Yes McLaren did have a good run in the 90's but that nearly a decade ago.
More importantly BMW dispite being linked with one of the best teams on the Grid (Williiams ) totally stank.
Only Honda managed to save some face with some 3rd place wins.

Formula one requires a lot of effort/ time / money . Ferrari has always spent a lion share of its s budget on f1 racing. While they have been at the top with M. Schumacher they struggled for a long time before that as a 3rd rate team despite their storied lineage.

— izfuney (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 4:04:21 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

McLarens budget is one the top 3 in F1 . More importantly they have had the benefit of a relationship with Ilmor (MB racing arm) that goes back nearly 17 years now. To think that they have fielded top drivers like Raikonen and JPM amongst others in the last few years, they have classically been underachievers.


I think Toyota underestimated the difficulty involved by trying to create a team from scratch, especially as they always seem to have issues with the setup of the car. But they have had a great rep for one of the best engines on the Grid. This year will point it out, as Williams fields a toyota engine.

F1 is a notoriously tough game to predict. But i think toyota has the capability to achive a good enough showing in the coming 2 years.

— izfuney (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 6:23:11 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

BMW beat Toyota by 1 point this season. Yeah, the decimated them alright. That's what an extra 100 years of experience gets you?

Look at how far ahead #1 and #2 are. You can't have just the fastest car or best driver.

Audiman4,
From 1993 to 2001, the fastest Le Mans lap times were held by 2 Toyota cars. It's not a win, but it's more than you were probably expecting.

Where's Audi in F1? Oh, that's right, they can't afford it. I don't see them in WRC anymore either.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 8:22:18 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

MDalle - spoken like a true McLaren fan :) .
I for one, belive the word "If" leaves a lot to the imagination. Mclaren hasnt delivered but has always threatened too ..
I dont underestimate them, just that i dont think Ferrari/Raikonen , Renault, Honda, Toyota, BMW will just let them have their way.
K , I will admit though Toyota at best is in line to win a 3rd place . Mainly as i think Ralfie doesnt have the killer instinct his elder Bro has, he is almost like a german JB.

— izfuney (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 8:36:41 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Much money spent and little results. Toyota and racing are words that have had little sucess together.

— chewy (View Profile)

Posted on 12/4/2006 9:59:13 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0