Toyota, next big thing?

pink69 · 30 Jun 2001, 12:06 (Ref:111434)

Toyota will be joining the F1 circus next year and alot of hype is surrounding their arrival. But where will they be with the rest of the field? BMW entered back at the front but there is no guarentee that Toyota will be at the front. I reckon that Toyota will be in the middle of the pack , battling with BAR , Jaguar and sauber.

EERO · 30 Jun 2001, 12:12 (Ref:111436)

It will take them awhile to find the pace. BMW had the benefit of Williams experience and expertise-TOYOTA need to make the whole package gel; they will have a difficult time. Mika Salo is also terribley overrated.

davebreen · 30 Jun 2001, 16:55 (Ref:111504)

With the arrival of the japanese giants next year, how do you think they will fare? Seems the have succeeded everywhere they've tried so I cant wait. And with a number one driver like Mika Salo, where can you go wrong?{ I think they were looking at Frentzen as a test driver

}

Nicholas · 30 Jun 2001, 18:05 (Ref:111513)

Yes, I think they ought to be able to win in the first year. Testing has already proved Toyota to be extremely quick, and with that wealth of experience behind them, who knows, they might even win 1st time out.

LucaBadoer · 30 Jun 2001, 18:08 (Ref:111514)

nicholas, don't put the BAR curse on them!

Nicholas · 30 Jun 2001, 18:17 (Ref:111518)

No, they have had a whole year to do testing in and that should be enough to put them on the front row next year, if not outright race wins. They are already right on the pace in current testing, and having shown their ability to bend the rules to the breaking limit in other forms of motorsport, I believe that we are truly in for a golden era of GP racing. They ought to be challenging for a podium come Melbourne 2002, and at this rate they are well on the road to acheiving that target.

davebreen · 30 Jun 2001, 19:55 (Ref:111554)

Testing times in Monza were 4 or 5 seconds off last years testing times, so maybe that doesnt bode to well for them! On the plus side they look to have a confident engineering team behind them

Ralf's Girl · 30 Jun 2001, 20:07 (Ref:111560)

I think they'll be quite near the back, at least for the first half of the season. They haven't raced before, and a team coming in from scratch isn't likely to be on the pace straight away - look at what happened to Lola. Unlike Lola, Toyota will last, but they're not going to come in and start winning. Even taking over an existing team isn't easy - take Jaguar and Prost as an example. They took over teams already racing and took several giant steps backwards.

riusnow · 30 Jun 2001, 20:49 (Ref:111575)

Of course they won't be in the front. They have too much to overcome: new team, new car, other winning teams to beat. But I think they will get their act together quickly after a few races to be consistently in the middle, maybe even in the points.

Speedworx · 30 Jun 2001, 20:50 (Ref:111576)

Toyota will suck, unless they dump Salo and get a decent drievr to partner McNish.

Mekola · 30 Jun 2001, 23:17 (Ref:111618)

What???

davebreen · 30 Jun 2001, 23:27 (Ref:111623)

Quote:

Originally posted by hakkiman
Toyota will suck, unless they dump Salo and get a decent drievr to partner McNish.

I think someone loves hakkinen a bit too much to see that Salo is obviously a decent driver

Wrex · 1 Jul 2001, 05:10 (Ref:111659)

Quote:

Originally posted by hakkiman
Toyota will suck, unless they dump Salo and get a decent drievr to partner McNish.

Time will tell which one gets dumped

badoer fan · 1 Jul 2001, 07:59 (Ref:111673)

Quote:

Originally posted by hakkiman
Toyota will suck, unless they dump Salo and get a decent drievr to partner McNish.

Dump both

Don K · 1 Jul 2001, 09:02 (Ref:111681)

Dump Salo?

The man who had to hand the win to Irvine in his second race for Ferrari (while Eddie had already driven 58 races in that car)?

In that case, what shall we do with Irvine (who didn't manage to win a single race in his first three years at Ferrari)?
Or Alesi, who also didn't win during his first three years at Ferrari, nor in his two years ('96 and '97) at Benneton ('95 WCC)?

badoer fan · 1 Jul 2001, 14:24 (Ref:111748)

Quote:

Originally posted by Don K
Dump Salo?

The man who had to hand the win to Irvine in his second race for Ferrari (while Eddie had already driven 58 races in that car)?

And then qualified seventeenth for the next race, and for much of it ran behind the man who should have been in that seat, and was in a much more inferior car.

EERO · 1 Jul 2001, 14:35 (Ref:111754)

Ive always thought Salo to be terribley overrated. Subbing for Zonta at BAR, his performances were worse than Zonta could muster and at Ferrari, don't forget that he found himself in the lead only because Hakkinen had suffered a high speed puncture pitching him into the wall entering the Stadium. The remainder of his races were indifferent. He was easily outqualified by Irvine.

badoer fan · 1 Jul 2001, 15:30 (Ref:111786)

At last, I've found someone else without tunnel vision

Speedworx · 1 Jul 2001, 21:00 (Ref:111878)

Salo is over rated. His Ferrari performances were not great. Toyota should have McNish and Frentzen.

View Poll Results: Where will toyota be?
Front	1	4.55%
Mid pack	9	40.91%
rear of the field	12	54.55%
Voters: 22. You may not vote on this poll

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