Formula One news

Toyota development didn't tail off - Gascoyne

Toyota technical director Mike Gascoyne says his team kept up with the development of championship-winning Renault throughout the season as Toyota recorded their best ever championship finish in fourth. He denies that the team failed to develop the car as much as other teams after they made a strong start to the season and tailed off mid-season.

"We were three or four tenths behind Renault at the start of the season and flattered by McLaren under-performing early on," Gascoyne said. "We had aero updates at every race at that stage of the season and development has been constant. We have lightened the car step-by-step. In the middle of the season we struggled with consistency at the rear end at a few races but with some developments on the car we improved and over the last five or six races were very consistent."

"I find this perception that we started well but didn't develop as well as other teams unfair," he added. "I think we have consistently been the third quickest car in a lot of races close to the end of the season. And we are probably the same 0.3-0.4s behind Renault that we were at the start. I don't see that we have dropped off."

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