Zoom Trulli's 6th place at Indy was the best for either driver

Toyota ended the 2006 season with 35 points and admitted at the time that they were disappointed with their own performance. After something of a public apology, the team vowed to regroup and make strides forward in 2007, the 50th anniversary of the Japanese manufacturer's presence in motorsports. Unfortunately the team took a step backwards rather than forwards.

Toyota may be a relative new-comer to the Formula One World Championship, but after six years in the sport, 2007 showed no progress despite what is rumoured to be the largest budget on the grid. 13 points from 34 starts this year tells its own story. In fact, 2007 marked the team's worst performance since 2004 and a sixth of what the team achieved in 2005.

Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were back again and neither showed particularly well. Trulli qualified the TF107 pretty well on occasion, but improvement in race conditions was a rare feat. Schumacher struggled in qualifying in general and made little progression on Sunday afternoons.

Schumacher kicked the season off with an eighth position in Australia while Trulli picked up a pair of seventh's in Malaysia and Bahrain. Monaco was a disaster for the German-based team with Trulli and Schumacher qualifying 14th and 20th respectively and racing on to 15th and 16th some two laps down on eventual race winner Fernando Alonso. Clearly the Pascal Vasselon designed TF107 lacked the mechanical grip enjoyed by its rivals.

Trulli nosed his Toyota into the barriers exiting the pits in Montreal while Schumacher picked up another point. Trulli rebounded at the US Grand Prix with a run to sixth position while Schumacher eliminated himself and some of his rivals at the very first turn. It was Trulli's turn to crash out in France after a promising run in qualifying shortly followed by a double DNF for the team at Silverstone.

The European Grand Prix brought little but Schumacher showed well in Hungary as he scored three valuable points - his best result of the season. That was it for the younger Schumacher who did not break into the top ten at all in the final six rounds of the championship. Trulli too was on a run of non-points scoring results until the season finale when he salvaged an eighth position and secured the last available point of the championship.

With Schumacher’s contract up, the team have decided it is time for a change. GP2 champion Timo Glock has been signed up for 2008 while Trulli remains under contract to the team for another season. There are whispers that Trulli’s tenure in the race seat is not as solid as his overall contract but the fact remains that Toyota failed to produce a competitive package this year and neither driver managed to extract any real pace from the car.

2008 will be a critical season for Toyota…

Earl ALEXANDER
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