The boss of Toyota is giving himself until 2010 to succeed

The team principal of Toyota, Tadashi Yamashina-Ku, stated that he was giving himself until 2010 to give his team a second wind.

After a disappointing 2007 campaign, where Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher, the two drivers, didn’t even make a single podium, Yamashina-Ku admitted that the team cannot continue to operate at this current level.

Although it is not clear what might happen if the team does not make progress by 2010, the pressure is obviously on Toyota to start delivering results.

« To become stronger, it is more important to improve the overall level of the organization rather than relying on the power of one person, » stated Yamashina-Ku in Toyota Motorsport’s annual report.

« And my job is to mobilize the necessary resources to achieve this goal. I have the opportunity to do so over the next two years. So, we will work and fight to ensure that we deserve our place. »

Yamashina-Ku pointed out the aerodynamics, which he believes is the main source of the team’s failure because it has not been able to adapt to Bridgestone tires.

« I think the main factor of problems is the aerodynamics, it can still be developed. 2008 will be the year of improvement thanks to what we have accomplished this year, » he stated.

« Another important factor is that this year, we were unable to adapt to the change in tires. Throughout the season, we could see that our car was not performing well in relation to the tires. »

« Maybe our car was too unstable due to major changes in braking downforce, or we focused too much on aerodynamics. As a result, the suspension design suffered and was compromised. »

« By using tires with very different characteristics this year, we learned a lot and this contributed to making a step forward. We will analyze all the data during the winter and try not to make the same mistakes next season, » added the Japanese.

However, Yamashina-Ku admits that he may have been a little too optimistic about the direction of the Toyota team in 2007.

« Last year’s experience opened my eyes to the fact that we have a lot of work to do. We must continue to surpass ourselves to reach new heights. Our objective at the beginning of 2007 was to gradually reduce the gap between the big teams and us. However, it turned out that our vision was a bit too optimistic. »

« We studied our performances in 2007 and we believe we have identified the areas where we need to improve. We expect more on the aerodynamic side. I am convinced that the team knows what they need to do to improve our performance, » he concluded.