Toyota has always been a very important name on the Formula one track and even after a shaky start to its Formula one racing, it has finally found its feet.

Toyota has been a respected name on the racing track since the earliest days of the sports and its popularity. Not only just as a car manufacturing brand, but the lion’s share of this attitude has been born as a result of the track record of their own formula one team which is now known as Panasonic Toyota Racing that has got its base in Cologne in Germany. Interestingly, despite their entrance in to the arena of motor sporting world in as early as 1957, it wasn’t before experiencing decades of various developmental phases that they finally made their formula one debut in 2002.

A debut that is best forgotten

The big moment arrived during the Australian Grand Prix with McNish and Salo driving the Toyota TF102, a model that was designed by Gustav Brunner. There was an almost unprecedented amount of hype regarding the team during the season as well as the competition which many argue was primarily because of the financial resources behind the team. However, contrary to the beliefs of most fans and experts of the sport, Toyota ended up doing real bad and finishing with just two points throughout the year. The next year witnessed the passing of racing responsibilities to Cristiano da Matta which certainly yielded better results ending the year with sixteen points. 2004 was again nothing special for Toyota as they just managed to maintain their form and the consistency of their performances.

Rise from the Ashes

It was finally the year 2005 that brought about some significant changes in Toyota’s track record with the combination of Trulli and Ralf Schumacher at the wheels. They had quite a head start to the season with bagging of points at competitions at Australia, Malaysia and also in Bahrain. In fact, to this day the second position which Toyota finally managed to cling on to that year is certainly their best result which they can boast about anywhere. However, while the team seemed just a step away from tasting real success, performances again started to go downhill right from the following year. In fact when they failed to make any impact in the 2006 Australian Grand Pix, severe criticisms regarding various aspects of the formula one team including even the finance poured in from various quarters directed primarily at the management and the officials. However, 2008 has again saw a vast improvement as Toyota finished the year 5th with a point tally of 56.