Toyota F1

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Toyota F1 este o echipă de Formula Onu condusă de producătorul Japonez de maşini Toyota. În mod neobişnuit, în timp ce majoritatea echipelor de Formula 1 au sediul în Marea Britanie, cei de la Toyota au optat pentru Cologne, Germany. Investiţiile celor de la Toyota în Formula 1 sunt făcute pe termen lung, o mare parte din ele susţin sediul central al echipei aflat la Cologne, Germany. Echipa tehnică de la Toyota include în acest moment designeri reputaţi, cum ar fi Luca Marmorini şi Pascal Vasselon. Echipa tehnică anterioară i-a inclus pe Gustav Brunner (ce a părăsit echipa la finele lui 2005) şi Mike Gascoyne (ce a fost suspendat după Marele Premiu al Australiei 2006 ).

Toyota's Formula One involvement stemmed from Team Toyota Europe (TTE), originally set up by Ove Andersson to run in the World Rally Championship. TTE became the spearhead for development of various motorsport technologies. It designed and ran in the 24 Hours of Le Mans campaigns for Toyota in 1998 and 1999. Toyota Motorsport as TTE was now known, then redirected its resources from the World Rally Championship to Formula One and during 2000 and 2001 Toyota ran tens of thousands of miles of testing their Formula One test car, the TF101.

Toyota şi-a început oficial participarea la Campionatul Mondial de Formula 1 în 2002, cu piloţii Allan McNish şi Mika Salo. În ciuda faptului că s-a anunţat ca fiind una din echipele de Formula 1 cu cel mai mare buget, Toyota nu a obţinut decît 2 puncte pe parcursul întregului an, level with minnows Minardi, devansându-i doar pe cei de la (Arrows, care şi-au terminat bugetul pe la jumătatea sezonului). Nici McNish nici Salo nu au primit oferte de angajare pentru sezonul 2003, deşi au făcut o treabă bună în circumstanţele date.

In 2003, Champ Car champion Cristiano da Matta and former BAR driver Olivier Panis took over the racing duties but success was still a long way away. The team accumulated sixteen points throughout the season — a massive improvement on 2002 in terms of points — but still ended up only eighth in the Constructors' Championship.

The 2004 Formula One season was more difficult for the team. Both Toyotas were disqualified from the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix for running illegal parts. Cristiano da Matta, disillusioned with Formula One, left the team half-way through the season, and was replaced by compatriot Ricardo Zonta who had been the team's third driver. Zonta was replaced by Jarno Trulli who had himself left Renault F1. Olivier Panis, meanwhile, announced his retirement from racing, and bowed out before the end of the season to allow Zonta to compete in his home race, the Brazilian Grand Prix. The team scored only nine points all season.

There was, however, reason for the team to be optimistic. Toyota had signed proven race winners for the 2005 Formula One season: Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher. They had also employed talented designer Mike Gascoyne to oversee the development of the Toyota chassis. Toyota made a highly impressive start to the 2005 season. Trulli was able to show the car's pace by qualifying second for the Australian Grand Prix and finishing in second at the following two races. Results soon began to peter away as Toyota was unable to keep up with the pace of development. Nevertheless, the 2005 season has been Toyota's most successful Formula One season by far,as they scored points in all but the opening race,and ofcourse the controversial US Grand Prix. Toyota has retained the same lineup for the 2006 Formula One Season-and was the first team to unveil their new car very early into winter testing,thought to be giving them significant edge over their rivals-but has performed averagely in testing since and even more badly in the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix.Ralf Schumacher blew up his Toyota engine at the qualifying of 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix-nonetheless managing to score a point after a good drive from the back of pack along with heavy attrition.Toyota seems to be on form in the 2006 Australian Grand Prix,with both Trulli and Ralf qualifying in the top ten.

Olivier Panis driving for the Toyota F1 team at the 2004 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis

An early Toyota F1 car on display.

Ricardo Zonta (replacing an injured Ralf Schumacher) qualifying in a Toyota car at the 2005 United States Grand Prix

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(Notă: marile premii cu caractere bold semnifică cursele in care s-au obţinut puncte)

[modifică] External links

Wikimedia Commons conţine materiale multimedia legate de Toyota F1

• Situl Toyota F1
• Statisticile Toyota F1
• ITV F1s Story about Mike Gascoyne's Departure

[[Categorie: Constructori de Motoare în Formula 1|Toyota