Ralf warnes Toyota about reliability

[Bram Turismo]

Ralf: Toyota need to improve reliability
Tuesday November 07 2006

Ralf Schumacher has warned Toyota that unless they produce a reliable car for him to race in 2007, they will repeat this year's disappointing campaign.

Reliability proved to be Toyota's downfall during the 2006 Championship as even when they had the speed to challenge for points, they were often let down by mechanical failures.

Seven retirements throughout the course of the 18-race season meant Ralf could only manage tenth place in the Drivers' standings, while his team-mate Jarno Trulli, who suffered six retirements due to mechanical failures alone, finished in 12th place.

Toyota also dropped in the Constructors' Championship. While in 2005 the Cologne team finished fourth, this year they could only manage sixth place, scoring less than half the points of fourth-placed Honda.

However, it's not all bad news for Toyota as Ralf believes that if they can fix their reliability gremlins, the team will have the pace to become regular points and perhaps even podium finishers.

"We did not secure the results we were hoping for but in many races we were very close to the pace of Renault and McLaren," Ralf told the official F1 website.

"What we have learned for 2007 is that we must take advantage of our pace when it is there.

"Too often we have suffered with reliability issues so that is one important area that we must improve for next season."

I have to agree here, we all I think. Although no team can beat Williams when it comes to unreliability, Toyota has failed to finish quite alot

 

[Pupik]

Of course, it didn't help that the cars were bog-slow in half the races, even if they weren't finishing. Toyota has the largest budget of all the teams, so it's quite the big-budget flop, considering they just finished their 5th season in F1...

 

[kikie]

They're just trying too hard.

 

[Tornado]

This just in:

Ralf Schumacher has warned Toyota that unless they produce a reliable car for him to race in 2007, they will repeat this year's disappointing campaign.

The obvious has been stated!
Sorry Ralf, Toyota won't win anything even if they don't constantly break.

 

[Appie]

Nah i think they were too much in the clouds after a good 2005 season

 

[TopHat]

Toyota? Unreliable? Consecutively? My brain hurts.

 

[Dougboy]

Toyota? Unreliable? Consecutively? My brain hurts.

toyota and unreliable does not belong togehter in one sentence...for their road cars that is.

 

[Gabkicks]

yeah, its funny how their roadcars are known for being indestructable. imagine how frustrating it is to be so close to winning or finnishing top 3... and then having car problems.

 

[Lee]

So, when is Ralf gonna raise his hand and admit he sucks?

 

[Bram Turismo]

 

[GilesGuthrie]

I think Toyota made a huge mistake in firing Mike Gascoyne. But then they made a huge mistake in hiring Ralf, so I suppose it evens out in the end. For the money they have, they should have hired DC. You've only got to look at what he's done at Red Bull to understand what a Team Leader actually is...

 

[Bram Turismo]

Well, a think first of all Toyota needs a good teamboss. Toyota hasn't had one single year where the team was stable...

 

[Lee]

I think Toyota need a good revision of their methods. I still see them as a team who entered F1 to strengthen their corperate image more than anything.

If they were entering the championship to genuinely compete for the championship, why hire Ralf and Jarno?! As mentioned earlier DC would have been a good choice maybe partnered with Webber or something.

Guess what I'm trying to say is, Toyota should morth themselves into "ToyoBull", atleast in Red Bull they know how to spend their money...

 

[Blake]

The thing with Toyota is that they are so bound up in corperate politics that no one is prepared to take responsibility if the whole thing falls on its face, so they discuss things and tend to do things conservatively, rather than just letting 1 person make the choices and get on with it. They need someone who is prepared to take the risks, and really be aggressive with the development with the car. They will not succeed if they continue to run the project like this.

 

[a6m5]

It is kind of comical that company like Toyota with a reputation for reliability struggle at it for their F1 cars.

I think Toyota made a huge mistake in firing Mike Gascoyne. But then they made a huge mistake in hiring Ralf, so I suppose it evens out in the end.

I like your math.

 

[Tornado]

They need someone who is prepared to take the risks, and really be aggressive with the development with the car. They will not succeed if they continue to run the project like this.

They need their own Takuma Sato.

 

[Bram Turismo]

What about for example Williams? They started in F1 in 1968, their first point was gained in the GP of Zandvoort in 1973. THeir first titel in the constructorschampionship was in 1980 and they had wait for another title untill 1986.

This may be a very bad comparison but it takes time to get to the top IMO...No matter how big your budget is.

 

[Tornado]

You have a point, but the F1 of then was very different from the F1 of now. Back then it was more ingenuity than anything else, barring driver skill.
Today it is ingenuity taped to million dollar bills that usually wins races, usually supplemented by driver skill.

 

[Blake]

What about for example Williams? They started in F1 in 1968, their first point was gained in the GP of Zandvoort in 1973. THeir first titel in the constructorschampionship was in 1980 and they had wait for another title untill 1986.

This may be a very bad comparison but it takes time to get to the top IMO...No matter how big your budget is.

Williams is a bad example. They had a very small budget for a long long time.

However, an example of how quickly you can get to the top lies with Renault, who bought Benneton in 2001 (when they were trundling around the back of the grid), I believe, and renamed the team in 2002 (when Toyota joined the sport). The next year they had their first victory, the year after they had another victory, and the year after that they got the Constructors and Drivers Titles, followed by a repeat the following year.

It should also be noted that their budget is over $100 million dollars a season less than that of Toyota.

 

[darkfinal]

However, an example of how quickly you can get to the top lies with Renault, who bought Benneton in 2001 (when they were trundling around the back of the grid), I believe, and renamed the team in 2002 (when Toyota joined the sport). The next year they had their first victory, the year after they had another victory, and the year after that they got the Constructors and Drivers Titles, followed by a repeat the following year.

But they had a certain driver called Alonso to do polish their work... without him, they wouldn't have won their first race in Hungary '03, and I really doubt Fisichella would have won half the races Alonso did in 2005 being the first driver.

 

[Bram Turismo]

And they already had the engines, probably the crew as well. It's like BMW Williams, BMW already knew how to make good engines, and they knew where to find the drivers...

 

[Bram Turismo]

Another thing, Honda;

Their budget is even bigger then Toyota, yes it is, they didn't do much stunning either, the only thing was a victory based on pure luck...

 

[Blake]

Honda has a bigger budget than Toyota now? I wasn’t aware of that – can I have a source?

 

[Danny]

I have to agree here, we all I think. Although no team can beat Williams when it comes to unreliability, Toyota has failed to finish quite alot

Bram, I think we can both attest to Toyota's unreliability

 

[Bram Turismo]

Honda has a bigger budget than Toyota now? I wasn’t aware of that – can I have a source?

Well, the only source I can give you is Belgium TV actually

If I remeber well, it was the GP of China, remeber that? With the wet weather?

Well, they were discussing the change of colors Honda had, the victory at Hungary and such and one guy says Honda was definitly stronger then Toyota, blablabla, and suddenly the other guy says: "In fact Jan, latest news and rumours told us Honda's budget is bigger then every other team, currently".

They said it once more at the GP of Japan, at Suzuka.

It wuldn't surprise me if they had a bigger budget after their lucky win at Hungary actually...

 

[eiriksmil]

I think Toyota made a huge mistake in firing Mike Gascoyne. But then they made a huge mistake in hiring Ralf, so I suppose it evens out in the end. For the money they have, they should have hired DC. You've only got to look at what he's done at Red Bull to understand what a Team Leader actually is...

I think Toyota made a huge mistake quitting the rally business and go over to Formula One instead. Why couln't they just stay in WRC?

Or maybe modern Toyotas shouldn't be sporty, just get you from A to B?


Eirik

 

[Bram Turismo]

Agreed, as well as Le Mans, I bet they could win if they returned the GT-ONE in 2000 and made it more reliable.

 

[Appie]

Agreed, as well as Le Mans, I bet they could win if they returned the GT-ONE in 2000 and made it more reliable.

I heard that toyota maybe wants to return in le mans in 2009

 

[Bram Turismo]

Not before they won F1, believe me...

 

[Blake]

Eventually it will become more cost than it’s worth and the exec’s will scrap it. They have to unless they pull a championship out of the bag.

They’d be best to help Williams get back to the top with some funding, and then claiming everything they can from their (potential) success by screaming from the hilltops that their engines are powering people to victory. Not that getting Williams back to the top will be an easy task, either. Their funding is disappearing.