Sunday, January 15, 2006

The Toyota F1 Launch

So the TF106 was officially launched yesterday. Interestingly both drivers seem to be downplaying comments about the car's performance. While Mike Gascoyne is no doubt one of the best, I hope he finally gets his due with a car that can challenge for the championship. That said, Toyota, even with last year's strong finish remain the largest disappointment to me. With their deep pockets, they should have been challenging for the championship and not scrapping in the midfield. Their rivals Honda seem poised for greater success with smaller investments. It is interesting to see that both Kimi and Schumi have been linked to drives with Toyota for 2007. While it would do no harm for Schumi, as a swansong, I hope Kimi does not sign up and commit hara kiri. I simply do not see Toyota being major players for the next 3-4 years. Also, McLaren have finally got down to talking reliability. Surely it is obvious that from the day McLaren and Mercedes joined hands - in 1996 - that the engines have been pretty fragile. I don't believe it took them to 3 lost championships ('00, '03 , '05) to figure this out. Anyway if they can just get Kimi to a well deserved championship, couldn't be happier.

- Hari

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