Toyota Racing
 |
|
| Full name | Panasonic Toyota Racing |
|---|---|
| Base | Cologne, Germany |
| Noted staff |
Tadashi Yamashina Ove Andersson Pascal Vasselon |
| Noted drivers |
 Ralf Schumacher Jarno Trulli Timo Glock Kamui Kobayashi Olivier Panis Ricardo Zonta Mika Salo
|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 2002 Australian Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 140 |
| Engines | Toyota |
| Constructors' Championships |
0 |
| Drivers' Championships |
0 |
| Race victories | 0 |
| Podiums | 13 |
| Points | 278.5 |
| Pole positions | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 3 |
| Final entry | 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002. The new team grew from Toyota's long-standing Toyota Motorsport GmbH organisation, which had previously competed in the World Rally Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Despite a point in their first-ever race, Panasonic Toyota Racing never won a Grand Prix, their best finish being 2nd place, which they achieved five times – in 2005, 2008 and 2009.
Toyota drew criticism for their lack of success, especially after the 2006 Formula One season, in which the team's best result was 3rd place in the Australian Grand Prix. Toyota was a well-funded team, but despite this, strong results had never been consistent.
On 4 November 2009, Toyota announced its immediate withdrawal from Formula One, ending the team's involvement in the sport after eight seasons.
Toyota made an early entrance into motorsport when a Toyopet Crown entered the Round Australia Trial in 1957. The Formula One team's roots can be traced to a later development in 1972, when Swede Ove Andersson's Andersson Motorsport team used a Toyota Celica 1600GT in the RAC Rally in Great Britain. The team was later renamed Toyota Team Europe and then, after being bought by Toyota in 1993, Toyota Motorsport GmbH. The rally team won four World Rally Championship drivers' titles, most notably with Carlos Sainz, as well as three constructors' titles. The FIA banned the team from competition for 12 months in 1995 for running illegal parts, causing the team unable to race at next season. Toyota continued to win rallies after their return in 1997, but did not achieve the same level of dominance.
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