Are Toyota's drivers underperforming?

[woody2goody]

With regards to John Howett's comments :

"We like Timo very much, he did a great job, but still we have a car that is more regularly capable of being on the podium and much closer to the top this year. We are not delivering, and there are things beyond the team and the chassis itself."

He is almost certainly talking about Jarno here too, so what what does everyone think?

It seems to me that Toyota are blaming the inconsistency of their package on their drivers. Personally I don't think the drivers are to blame. I think they have both done a good job this year in a car that is at the front one minute and the back the next, and on top of that doesn't work very well in the wet.

It's a bit of a coincidence that both drivers are either near the front or the back of the grid from one weekend to the next.

[Koz]

I would say so. But their development failed them too.

[keysersoze]

Instead of dropping hundreds of millions on the program but hiring good (not great) drivers, they need to hire a known ringer and see what they are capable of once and for all.

[ratonmacias]

they should eliminate that unknown by signing a driver that is a known quantity then and only they could see if their engineering sucks as bad as kazuki nakajima.

[Roamy]

well they should hire JV and rosberg but do you really think after all this time they are that smart?? Since Kubica took over BMW went backwards and so now he will go to toyota

[Dave B]

well they should hire JV ...

Give it up! They need a known quantity, a quick driver with current experience who they can measure themselves against. A driver who hasn't been in F1 for four years, and was dog slow for the last half of his career anyway, isn't going to tell them anything remotely useful.

[ratonmacias]

Give it up! They need a known quantity, a quick driver with current experience who they can measure themselves against. A driver who hasn't been in F1 for four years, and was dog slow for the last half of his career anyway, isn't going to tell them anything remotely useful.

wrong

luca badoer sucked donkey ass but he still managed to properly test the ferraris when testing was still allowed

alex wurz was real bad too during the 2000 s and he still was very coveted as a test driver for mclaren and williams so... jv could be useful somehow..

but still toyota wont move forward because they are trying to buy a good driver. kimi lewis alonso and massa are the best drivers and where were they at the beggining of the season? did they forget how to drive?

now the other side of the story ross brawn one of the brightest guys in f1 takes one of the worse teams and a mediocre driver and a lapdog and makes them championship winners.

toyota should looking at getting

a)ross brawn (not possible he has moved on to bigger and better things)
b)adrian newey fast but fragile cars
c)geoff willis the only fast bar was designed by him after he went honda was a dog until brawn took over.
d)bob bell one of the 3 designers to win a championship this decade.

engineers gain seconds per lap drivers gain thousands per lap.

[jens]

Blaming drivers is first and foremost Howett's negotiation tactic in trying to get 'better drivers'.

Imagine this conversation:
Howett: "Hello Kimi. We would like to hire you for 2010."
Kimi: "But I want to drive only a top car. You do not have a top car."
Howett: "We do have a TOP car, just the drivers are ****. But if you sign for us, race wins and a WDC challenge will be guaranteed. Everything else is in place for top results, now we only need you. Besides this we will offer you a #1 status, something that McLaren won't do. So with Toyota being by far the best option for you, will you join us?"

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Overall... Nobody has ever claimed that Glock and Trulli are top-tier drivers, so some doubts about them are justified, but they are the best Toyota has managed to get thus far.

But also the car has obviously been quite inconsistent. I think 2009 with its radical rule changes has quite well exposed each team's weaknesses in car design - for McLaren it has been aerodynamics; for Toyota mechanical grip, cooler conditions and engine power; etc. Even Brawn GP has had its lows, so nobody has been really perfect.

[pino]

Howett is an idiot ! Toyota should criticise themself for costantly building a crap car and making so many wrong-strategy and mistakes

[woody2goody]

Howett is an idiot ! Toyota should criticise themself for costantly building a crap car and making so many wrong-strategy and mistakes

Yep. Trulli and Glock are doing a damn good job as far as I'm concerned.

They've got something like 45 points between them it's not too bad.