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Will Toyota finally lead the F1 pack?

Jarno Trulli at the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix

The latest rule changes earmarked for Formula One could propel Toyota to the head of the field. But not in the way the Japanese giant might like. Such is the dismay at the proposed £40M budget cap for the 2010 season that Toyota team boss John Howett said if the outlined changes stay as they are Toyota will withdraw from F1.

Howett also claims that Toyota would not be the only team to pull out of F1 should the budget cap proposal come to fruition.

“If nothing changes, we won’t be submitting an entry,” Howett told Reuters at the Spanish Grand Prix. “But I don’t think that is a unique opinion among other competitors.”

The draft budget cap plan will offer teams who abide by the £40M limit greater technical freedoms and advantages that many in the F1 paddock think would be insurmountable for teams operating outside the cap. It’s kind of ironic that a team with an operating budget under £40M could produce a car as much as two seconds a lap quicker than a team with no spending limit. However, that is the belief Patrick Head from Williams holds, as reported on autoblog (link below).

Okay, so why don’t all teams comply with the cap? Well, such is the degree of spending in the sport now that a reduction in budgets would bring countless job losses as teams would need to sack staff in order to comply.

[Source: guardian.co.uk via autoblog | Pic: Toyota-F1.com]

4 replies on “Will Toyota finally lead the F1 pack?”

Red bulls in as well now, Ferrari or at least BMW look set to follow also.. I wish someone with a little sense would bring in a freeze on rule changes at least for 3 years to allow some stability back into F1.

The KERS thing has been a disaster and the idiocy of changing engine and downforce rules almost yearly really has to stop as its not saving anyone any money.

Enforced budget cuts help no-one but the fat cat zillionaires Bernie wants to get into F1 in upstart teams with the illusion they’ll be competitive from day 1. All at the cost of manufactuer and established teams who have worked long and hard to be where they are today.

Brawn have proven with enough time and know-how it doesnt matter what your budget is (granted they inherited the research and developement paid for on Honda’s tab ).

Added to which, much like salary caps in most other sports and so on that are always worked around in some backhanded fashion. I have no doubt this would also be the case with imposed budget caps, so then we’d be dealing with the rumour and innuendo over team spending for successful teams, it’d be a mess.

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