Tough going for Toyota
Toyota are expecting another tough weekend in Australia as they strive to prove they are no billion-pound flops.
The Japanese team have the biggest budget in Formula One, having spent more than £1b (€1.46bn) on their five years in the sport so far.
But results have been hard to come by – and this season, expected to be Toyota’s breakthrough year in which a victory challenge was hoped for, has started dismally.
Ralf Schumacher’s eighth place in Malaysia two weeks ago is all they have to show for their efforts so far, and the German is expecting another hard scrap in Melbourne.
“A difficult weekend awaits, but I hope we can continue to push hard and use the data we have collected so far this year to help pushing up the grid,” he said.
“We knew the problems we had in Bahrain meant the race did not reflect our level of performance, and so we were always looking for much more in Malaysia.
“We were in better shape, and it was certainly good to open our 2006 points account. But we have much higher ambitions than eighth place.”
Team-mate Jarno Trulli, yet to finish in the top eight this season, added: “There is no question about the motivation of the whole team to get back to the level where we can race at the front of the grid.”
