Toyota’s TF104 was uncompetitive in last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, but the team will have completely overhauled the car by April.
Toyota’s TF104 was uncompetitive in last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, but the team will have completely overhauled the car by April.
Drivers Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis finished 12th and 13th respectively in Melbourne, and were lapped twice by the race winner, Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher.
Toyota’s technical director, Mike Gascoyne, said there would now be a total repackaging of the car for the San Marino Grand Prix: “We haven’t concentrated enough on getting the centre of gravity low enough in this car and that is what we are addressing primarily.
“We have many changes scheduled, almost on a race-by-race basis. In Malaysia we will have a new front wing and some new turning vanes, and there are many more parts scheduled for Bahrain,” he added.
By contrast, Toyota’s powerplant was a “world championship winning engine”, Gascoyne said, adding: “Our main problems are with the chassis and its aerodynamics but we have programmes in place to rectify the situation and everyone is working flat-out to get us where we should be, which is at the front of the grid.”
Plans are also already being made for next season, with a TF104 project manager being appointed to free up chief designer Gustav Brunner to concentrate on the ’05 car.
