The two parties collaborated intensively through the past few months in order to secure the Serbians a spot in the 2010 series. However, once the International Automobile Federation (FIA) confirmed that it will not allow any new team to enter the series this year, Zoran Stefanovic confirmed a collaboration with Toyota will no longer justify.
“For 2010, it's not feasible to do it anymore. We have some other (plan) in mind, we will see. We are very grateful to Toyota, which is a great company and doing a great job in what they are doing. They are now organizing things differently, they are now more profit centered in TMG in Cologne,” said Stefanovic in a recent interview with Autosport.
In the very opening day of the 2010 Formula One season, Toyota issued a statement in which they confirmed the survival of their Cologne base, while also the offering of CFD capabilities, two wind tunnels, manufacturing machines, test rigs and F1 simulators to all interested “external clients”. Around 200 employees were also confirmed at the factory, in order to keep it functional for the future.
As a matter of fact, it seems Toyota's first “customer” was the BMW Sauber F1 outfit, who recently used the Cologne's F1 simulator for Kamui Kobayashi. The Japanese driver experienced the thrill of driving an F1 car on the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, where he'll debut in the Sauber-prepared machine this weekend.
Stefan GP's end of collaboration with Toyota will not lead to the Serbian team dropping out of contention for a place in the 2011 F1 grid, as Stefanovic revealed “at the moment we're basically looking to see which direction we will go in the very near future.”
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