Toyota Report – Disappointed again… yet it (was) off to a (too) good start

Toyota was expecting to have a good race today thanks to Schumacher’s 6th place in qualifying. But that was not the case, and once again, the team leaves disappointed and with only one driver finishing the race.

Schumacher was also disappointed; he started 6th but at the first corner, he spun, nullifying all previous efforts, and abandoned after crashing into Sutil some time later.

Trulli didn’t have a good race either. He had a good start, but the rain prevented him from optimizing his strategy.

In Brazil, the team will be eager to achieve a good result to end the season on a high note.

Jarno Trulli – 13th

« This weekend was a real battle for me. I had balance issues in qualifying yesterday and today I was sure to have a difficult race. Nevertheless, we had a good start and I had a good race, gaining ground on rain tires in difficult conditions. But after the pit stop I lost a few places. It was difficult for all of us to race, and it just didn’t work out well for me. I gave my best, I pushed hard, but the points were out of reach. »

Ralf Schumacher – Retirement

« It was a difficult and disappointing race. I spun on the 1st lap trying to avoid a collision with another car. I was able to overtake several cars afterward. It’s a shame that Liuzzi hit me, but I’m sure it wasn’t intentional. At that point in the race, the track was drying, and we took the risk of fitting grooved tires because we didn’t have much to lose. But a downpour fell right after the pit stop, I lost grip, went off, and the engine stalled. It was an enjoyable race, but it’s a shame not to bring back a good result. I only have one race left with Toyota, but I’ll go to Brazil hoping to score as many points as possible to finish on a high note. »

Tadashi Yamashina – Director

« The team did an excellent job in qualifying and we were well placed, but once again our start was calamitous with Ralf’s car. We need to analyze precisely what happened. The car showed it was competitive on wet tires, and our two drivers performed well in these conditions. But things got complicated on both cars when we fitted the grooved tires. The timing of the pit stops and the tire choice were not bad, but we need to analyze and understand what happened after the tire changes. The refueling team did a good job despite the challenging conditions. »