LONDON, England (AP) Toyota are on course to equal their best season in Formula One, according to team president John Howett. Timo Glock's form has improved and is hopeful Toyota can finish fourth in the constructors' championship. The Japanese marque, whose F1 operation is based in Cologne, are currently fourth in the constructors' standings, which is where they finished in 2005. Toyota were one of the few teams to completely redesign their car for this season after suffering a slump in form in 2006 and 2007. And Howett claims the team, who are still looking for their first win since entering the sport in 2002, are on their way back to competitiveness. He said: "Last year, we had actually had a better season than the results showed and maybe we weren't given credit for, but I think now we have got a good team of people working together and it is coming. "We are trying to be strong everywhere. We are trying to put more [development parts] on the car." Timo Glock claimed second last time out in Hungary, which matches Toyota's best finish in the grands prix of Malaysia and Bahrain at the start of 2005. Do you think Toyota can finish as best of the rest behind Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber? And after a difficult first season with the team, Howett stressed that Toyota have always had faith that the German would come good alongside qualifying expert Jarno Trulli. "Timo has had the pace all the time. But sometimes under pressure he has not been able to put in the qualifying lap -- and you need the qualifying position to race well," Howett told autosport.com "At the beginning of the season he had a period of not too good starts, and I think now his starts are competitive and he can put the qualifying laps in. "When you have got Jarno in your team it can be demotivating when you compare qualifying times. I think he has psychologically got over that." The team are expected to keep Glock, who drove a handful of races for the defunct Jordan team in 2004, and Trulli for 2009. Glock is hopeful Toyota can keep Renault and Red Bull at bay and stay in fourth until the end of the season. "The grid is very competitive and at one circuit or in certain conditions Red Bull is stronger, then next race it is us, and so it's quite up and down and difficult to predict," he said. "At Hockenheim and Budapest the feel of the car was much more in my direction and better suited my driving style. I could just put the car where I wanted to in a corner. "Our car has shown good performance in hot conditions and we were always confident for Budapest."
While I like Toyota and wish them luck, even if they secure the 4th place spot I don't think this season will match 2005 where they were consistently on the podium. Of course there are a few races left in the calendar and anything can happen.
