Former Toyota F1 works driver Allan McNish has defined the ‘greatest win’ that got here from the its failed works programme.
Getting into in 2002, Toyota was a part of the producer growth in F1 on the flip of the twenty first century, however regardless of investing a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}, it did not win a single grand prix earlier than withdrawing on account of the 2008-09 world monetary crash.
In late 2024, Toyota took its first steps again into F1 as a part of a technical alliance with Haas, permitting engineers to get hands-on F1 expertise, while the Japanese producer can be supporting Haas in its first-ever Testing of Earlier Automotive (TPC) working.
Reflecting on the works programme, McNish, who drove for the workforce in its debut 2002 season, believes the engineering college the workforce created is its greatest legacy.
“It is rather completely different now as a result of on the finish of the day, it’s nonetheless Haas with slightly little bit of Toyota branding on it,” McNish informed media together with RacingNews365.
“Then it was a full programme, the automotive and engine build-up was all based mostly out of Cologne the place they’d the rally and Le Mans programmes.
“The largest factor was that they’d no price cap, it wasn’t as if cash mattered in any respect, and you can spend your method by means of issues, however clearly there have been cultural elements that hindered them, it was the query of the distinction between Japan and Europe and likewise the place they have been based mostly that did not assist them in the best way they thought it might.
“However the greatest factor out of Toyota was that it was a unbelievable engineering college for lots of people, some superb individuals got here out of it.
“Sadly, for them, they in all probability stopped slightly bit too early for them to have the ability to ship, and by the point they’d gained all their expertise, which was undoubtedly not in 12 months one, they have been able to ship, however that’s when the mission stopped.”
