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Post by blacktulip on Nov 4, 2009 10:10:35 GMT
No great suprise here
Toyota has announced it is withdrawing from Formula 1 with immediate effect, becoming the third carmaker to quit the sport in less than 12 months.
Following months of rumours about the Japanese manufacturer’s future, the F1 team’s parent company the Toyota Motor Corporation revealed following a board meeting on Wednesday morning that it had taken the decision to pull out of the sport following eight seasons without a win.
In its statement announcing the move, Toyota said that while it had remained determined to compete in F1 in the face of the worldwide recession that started towards the end of last year, it had now revised its position with the F1 spend not fitting into its mid-term business plans.
“Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announces it plans to withdraw from the FIA Formula One World Championship (F1) at the end of the 2009 season,” the Toyota statement said.
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raikkofan
F1 Driver
Where legends are made...
Posts: 181
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Post by raikkofan on Nov 4, 2009 19:37:21 GMT
I'm sad to hear the news but I can't say that I blame them. Times are tough. It's too bad, though, as they were improving on the track seemingly with each passing week. I hope they can come back when the economy gets pumping again.
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Post by fizzycola on Nov 4, 2009 22:44:10 GMT
Times are right hard just now for everyone........
Toyota have operated at a loss so I guess they have to cut costs somewhere..... (as we all have to)
But I'm sad to see them go.......
fizzy
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Post by fizzycola on Nov 4, 2009 22:50:52 GMT
Also Toyota’s decision comes just weeks after its F1 team signed the new Concorde Agreement until 2012. How do they get out of the contractual bitties?  ? This might get nasty........  fizzy |
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Post by f1diva on Nov 4, 2009 22:55:00 GMT
Shame the team were unable to gain the success they expected. Though, their failure to achieve results is largely down to a misdireted budget and lack of in season development. I am sure we will see Toyota in some form of global motorsport in the coming years, but maybe their F1 ambitions were too big.
F1Diva
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Post by fizzycola on Nov 4, 2009 22:59:35 GMT
I guess when the economy picks up, you be right Diva...they will be back.......
Hope so............
fizzy
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Post by blacktulip on Nov 5, 2009 16:34:27 GMT
Do they not still feature in Rally Sport
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Post by blacktulip on Nov 5, 2009 16:35:45 GMT
Renault says it cannot confirm whether it will remain in Formula 1 at present, amid speculation that it could be the next manufacturer to pull out of the sport.
News that Renault top brass were meeting to discuss the firm's F1 programme yesterday, just hours after Toyota announced its departure, had prompted rumours that another big car company was heading for the exit door.
But Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters it was too early to say whether his firm would be staying on the grid.
"You will have to be patient," Ghosn was quoted as saying by Reuters.
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Post by blacktulip on Nov 5, 2009 16:41:48 GMT
Ferrari has claimed that a confrontational approach by those running Formula 1, rather than the economic recession, is the main cause of the recent exodus of manufacturer teams.
Toyota became the third carmaker to quit F1 in the space of a year on Wednesday – after Honda and BMW – explaining that competing in the sport no longer made business sense for it in “the current severe economic realities”.
However, Ferrari believes those running F1 bear a heavy responsibility for the departure of some of its biggest names – alluding to the conflict with the FIA that prompted the teams to threaten a breakaway series until a compromise over cost-cutting was eventually reached in the summer.
“In reality the steady trickle of desertion is more the result of a war against the big car manufacturers by those who managed the sport, than the effects of the economic [downturn] that affected Formula 1 over the last years,” Ferrari said in an item published on its website.
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