2009 Results Decisive in Toyota's F1 Future

Toyota have certainly got a great atmosphere within their technical department following the good results of their masterpiece TF109 in the off-season testing. At all times, both Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli have finished the testing days on top of the timing sheets and, most of all, without any major reliability problem to interfere with the development of the car.

That led to a bunch of optimistic comments ahead of the season opener in Australia, especially since the Japanese manufacturer was believed to become the second car maker to leave the series after Honda's withdrawal last December. Although admitting they will be under a lot of pressure to deliver winning results this year, team boss John Howett believes Toyota will chose to prolong their F1 plans from 2009 onwards.

Of course, he made the connection to the potential good results in 2009, as the current economic crisis will lead to all teams in the F1 paddock maximizing their spending-performing report in the series.

“It is said that we will retreat if we do not win. But when you look at the general economic climate, all the teams have to proceed with caution, and all must be successful, which puts on the pressure. We must provide value to the company. I am confident though: if we have a strong season, we will stay,” Howett was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

Toyota will most likely be the only team in Formula 1 not to use the revolutionary Kinetic Energy Recovery System in 2009 – might be joined by Brawn GP – as the Japanese manufacturer announced there's no point in pumping money in a technology they do not plan on using in their road models. The avoidance of committing to this long-life project is also a clear suggestion that Toyota don't plan to stick around for many more years in a series that is yet to provide them with a world title.