Toyota can’t cut it in F1

Toyota F1 is in trouble as the Cologne based squad is way off the pace set by their rivals at Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and even Toro Rosso! In almost every preseason test they have been at or near the bottom of the speed charts in lap times. Now analyzing straight-line speeds at the Bahrain circuit on Wednesday shows they are way off the pace and simply are not making enough HP or are running a lot of wing angle to compensate for an ill handling car in the turns, hence sacrificing top-end speed.

At one time it was thought that Toyota would eventually get it right in F1 after struggling in its early years in the sport, but now it appears they are getting worse instead of better. Rumored to be spending as much as $500M per year in F1, if they go to their Mt. Fuji circuit this year and perform like this in front of their top executives expect heads to roll.

Fastest overall straight-line speeds for Wednesday

1. Raikkonen – Ferrari – 300.6 km/h
2. De La Rosa – McLaren Mercedes – 300.1
3. Kovalainen – Renault – 297.3
4. Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes – 297.2
5. Massa – Ferrari – 295.9
6. Barrichello – Honda – 294.9
7. Fisichella – Renault – 294.0
8. Heidfeld – BMW Sauber – 293.9
9. Liuzzi – Toro Rosso – 290.5
10. Button – Honda – 290.3
11. Webber – Red Bull Racing – 290.2
12. Sato – Super AguriF1 – 289.9
13. Kubica – BMW Sauber – 288.7
14. Coulthard – Red Bull Racing – 288.1
15. Schumacher – Toyota – 286.8
16. Trulli – Toyota – 285.8