Team story
Origins
Before putting the TF102 on the grid in 2002, Toyota devoted an entire season to its TF101 test car. Mika Salo and Allan McNish worked at different circuits, preparing the chassis and engine built by the Cologne operation. This was not the purchase of an existing team: Toyota Motorsport adapted the organisation that had already tackled rallying and Le Mans to its F1 programme.
The Formula 1 journey
Salo scored a point on debut in Australia. The first podium came with Jarno Trulli, second in Malaysia in 2005, the year of the team’s greatest progress. In Bahrain in 2009, Trulli and Timo Glock filled the front row.
Glock took the lead at the start, but switching to the harder compound compromised the second stint: Trulli was third and Glock seventh, without the hoped-for victory.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Toyota
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Australian Grand Prix
Mika Salo · Australian Grand Prix 2002. The recorded position is P6; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Malaysian Grand Prix
Jarno Trulli · Malaysian Grand Prix 2005. The recorded position is P2; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Jarno Trulli · Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2009. The recorded position is P7; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
Toyota developed both the car and the engine, moving from a V10 to a V8 with the 2006 regulations. The TF101’s preparation shows the scale of the work before racing even began: thousands of laps, two drivers and a programme separate from the eventual race car. Trulli later became a consistent reference point, partnered first by Ralf Schumacher and then Glock.
What remains
The manufacturer announced its withdrawal in November 2009, against the backdrop of the economic crisis, after eight seasons without a Grand Prix win. Thirteen podiums show that the team repeatedly reached the leading positions, but it never converted even its poles into victories. The TF109 closed the racing programme: Cologne’s technical operation had an earlier history and did not end with the Toyota name’s departure from the grid.
