Formula One news

Toyota team calm over future

The Toyota team is remaining relaxed over its future after a poor race in Spain at the weekend. On top of this, team president John Howett suggested in Barcelona on Saturday that the outfit may see no future in Formula One in the event of two sets of technical regulations being introduced next year.

"There is nothing to say. It is clearly just aero and we had two bad starts," Howett explained to Autosport about the team's race performance. "One car was bogged down, so we didn't make the predictions correctly, and the other looked like it had an oil spillage."

Timo Glock was disappointed to finish his first race outside the points all season, whereas a furious Jarno Trulli was eliminated from the Grand Prix in the dramatic Turn 2 pile-up. "Jarno had held his position very well through the corners and he was still in sixth or seventh position when Nico came back on the track (Turn 1) and he had nowhere to go," Howett continued. "Nico was then in front of Timo and, with a relatively short fuel load, we just sat there behind a slow car.

John Howett, Toyota team president

"Overall car performance was not strong enough with the car updates we brought. You have always a movement, that's why our car was quicker at the beginning of the season than others, but when you have big regulations changes you see swings and roundabouts and we have just to hold our nerve."

Howett then went on to respond to driver Timo Glock's comments, who suggested that the team could soon drop back as other competitors introduce new parts. "Based on today's race you could have to say yes," Howett admitted on Sunday, "but we have a lot in the pipeline; it is difficult for me to understand how a driver can make that judgement. I am not sure the drivers know what we are always developing - I will talk to him about that."

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