Toyota eyeing push forward
by David Maher, 17 May 2008
Toyota president John Howett is pleased with how his team has performed so far in the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship, but is determined to make further strides towards the front-running squads.
The Japanese outfit has enjoyed a massive improvement to become a far more competitive team for the current season and Howett is delighted with the efforts of his drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, the latter of whom has been unlucky to be without a championship point.
“The start to the season has been quite encouraging,” Howett told a Q&A session following the completion of testing at Paul Ricard.
“Over the first five races the car has been relatively quick, and we have had some positive race results. Jarno is very positive about the baseline of the TF108 while Timo has shown a lot of flashes of high performance and future potential and it is obvious he is becoming more relaxed with the car as the season progresses.”
Howett is focused on now making the step to the next level, by pushing up to the back of the sport’s big boys.
“I think in Formula 1 almost everyone has very similar resources and we are all pushing hard, so closing the gap is always going to be difficult, there's no denying that,” he accepted.
“Our goal this year is to get to a higher level within the second pack and hopefully latch on to the top three teams. I actually believe the middle pack is closing up towards Ferrari, McLaren and BMW, although it is not easy.”
Trulli is currently ninth in the 2008 standings, on nine points.