Formula One news

Toyota aims to consolidate fourth

Toyota enjoyed a successful test at Hockenheim last week, establishing baseline set-ups for the German Grand Prix as well as trying out various aerodynamic upgrades. After moving into fourth in the Constructors' Championship thanks to Jarno Trulli's seventh place at Silverstone, Toyota aims to strengthen its hold on that position at Hockenheim. 

Pascal Vasselon, senior general manager chassis commented, "The new Hockenheim circuit is more average in terms of its characteristics than the previous lay-out. The braking energy is in the middle of the range and the downforce level is now medium to medium-high. What is normally above average is the temperature and that is what is responsible for the tyre blistering that we have sometimes seen. The ambient and track temperatures are often extremely high and I'd say that is the only real outstanding characteristic."

"This will be the first time that we have been to Hockenheim with the current tyres," he added. "Bridgestone's choice of the two hardest compounds in the range is conservative because Hockenheim is a medium severity track, a little like Magny-Cours. We are expecting a level of performance more in keeping with our display at Magny-Cours than Silverstone. That means we are hoping to be near the front again. Actually, Magny-Cours and Hockenheim are now very similar in terms of car configuration so we are expecting to go well."

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