Toyota F1 budget cut

March 17, 11:23 AMTampa Sports Car ExaminerMichael Berenis

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Toyota just released some information warning about cutting the F1 budget. Japan has one last remaining Formula One team, Toyota. Could this be the end of Japanese Formula One? Due to drastic budget cuts as the economy falls chances are high that Toyota won't be racing F1 much longer.

Subaru has dropped out of WRC, and now it's possible Toyota will drop out of F1. Toyota hasn't won a race since 2002, but Subaru was winning races hand over foot and still withdrew from WRC. Chances are imminent that Toyota is going to drop out of the Formula One racing circuit. The chairman of the Toyota F1 team, Tadashi Yamashina made a statement saying, "worthless for the team to continue if it failed to improve its performance."

"We feel the pressure not because we are the last Japanese team but because we are a team without a win," and "it will be deemed worthless to be there." are other recent statements made by Toyota F1. "If the situation remains the same next year, we'll have to cut our budget further,"- Toyota F1. Finishing in eleventh place is a tough way to finance a million dollar race team.

The economy is forcing many companies out of "extra-ciricular" activites including the Toyota F1 rivals, Honda and Super Aguri. Additional teams will also be cutting back manufacturing this summer, another sign of the times being rough. Can the economy kill racing? There's a good chance it will happen because it's the auto manufacturers who finance the majority of racing. Watch the video below to see how Toyota has left us hints and clues to their withdrawal. Looks like it's "lights out" for Toyota.

The general impression that Toyota may be dropping out of F1 is sad, disappointed, but some are happy. This will give Toyota a chance to focus on NASCAR, according to some forum users. Sure this is just a budget cut, but we all know what happens next. There's a good chance Toyota will drop F1, especially since they want to focus on bigger exposure via Nascar. We should have seen this coming the day they were accepted into NASCAR.

More about Toyota F1 racing team by Wikipedia

"Toyota Racing is a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their TF101 initial car, the team made their debut in 2002.^[2] The new team has grown from Toyota's long standing European Toyota Motorsport organisation, which has previously competed in the World Rally Championship and the 24 hours of Le Mans. Despite a point in their first ever race,^[3] Toyota F1 have not yet won a grand prix, their best finish being a couple of 2nd place finishes during the 2005 season, when it achieved three podiums and a pole position, as well as finishing fourth in the world constructors' championship with 88 points." - Wikipedia

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