JANUARY 28, 2005

Toyota's position in F1 politics

Toyota and Honda joined forces with the GPWC teams earlier this week to indicate that it shares theirs and hopes for the future of Formula 1. However the Japanese company is keen to make sure that people do not confuse this with the company having joined the GPWC.

"Toyota has not joined the GPWC," said team boss Tsutomi Tomita. "The meeting on Wednesday between five of Formula 1's manufacturers was to discuss the direction in which our sport is going and to define a clear set of guiding principles and objectives which we all believe should be adopted for the future of Formula 1. Toyota was not happy with the action taken by FIA, FOM and Ferrari last week as there was no prior consultation with any of the other teams on such an agreement. Toyota was invited to join the other manufacturers and their respective teams in a meeting on Wednesday to develop a unified direction for the future of Formula 1.

"Toyota's position has already been put forward in the past. We want to retain F1 as the pinnacle of motorsport, to reduce costs whilst retaining the technical challenge, to not impose unnatural restrictions on the technology used in F1 car development, to continue to attract and provide excitement to fans and importantly to adopt a positive attitude towards independent teams through offering technical support and supplying engines."