(from autosport) (This appears to be a change from the announcement two weeks ago from other team principles, or just PR to pacify sponsors) Toyota have no intention to leave Formula One at least until 2012, according to team president John Howett, who denied the Japanese squad have been given a two-year deadline to succeed. "The rumours about us leaving the sport have always been groundless," Howett was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport. "Having signed the Concorde Agreement, we are in it at least until 2012. "We never received deadlines from Japan regarding the next two years." Toyota team principal Tadashi Yamashina said earlier this year in the team's annual motorsport report that he had two more years to achieve success in Formula One. "To become stronger it is more important to improve the level of organization in general rather than to rely on the power of one person," said Yamashina. "And my job is to mobilize the resources to achieve that. "I have been given two more years. So, we will work and fight to make sure we prove ourselves in the 2008 season." Yamashina said, however, that his words had been misinterpreted and insisted there are no ultimatums from Toyota. "My words were misinterpreted," he was quoted as saying by the Italian newspaper. "When I mentioned the two-year deadline to get results, it wasn't an ultimatum, I wasn't referring to Toyota's presence in F1, I was talking about the extent of my appointment." Toyota, with one of the biggest budgets in the sport, are yet to win a race in Formula One.
if they don't start fighting for the podium within this next 2 years, i'd pull the plug on F1, if i were them. just supply Wiiliams, and enjoy winning in another form.
Good to hear that they will/should stay until at least the 2012. Some members here do not realize how difficult it is to compete and to win in F1, regardless how much money you spend, especially for a team that is build completely from the ground up and not by buying out an existing team. People talk about how competitive BMW-Sauber "can be" and yet, they have not won a single race yet as of today. I don't know why some members here are so quick to beat on the Japanese teams (Toyota & Honda) for not having good results and yet, extremly forgiving to the other teams (Williams, BMW-Sauber, STR, RB & Spyker). Some will cite the big budget as the reason, that's pure BS because Ferrari and McLaren's racing budget is just about as big as anyone else, and they had their down years just as well. Some just seem to forget how miserable Ferrari was in the 80's and 90's before the Todt-Brawn-Barns-M. Schumacher era.
Funny how everyone jumped on this as Toyota leaving. Makes you wonder about all that talk about Ron being forced out at McLaren...
