Howett: A good year but Toyota want more

Monday 27th October 2008

Although John Howett says 2008 has been a good year for Toyota, the team boss admits he wants more from the outfit next season.

This year's Championship has seen Toyota score 52 points, including two podium finishes. While Jarno Trulli finished third in the French GP, Timo Glock went one better, achieving second place in the Hungarian race.

The team finds themselves fifth in the Constructors' Championship with one race remaining. However, given that sixth-placed Toro Rosso are 18 points adrift, Toyota are unlikely to be challenged for position.

"It's great this year to be back on the podium with two drivers and a car that can challenge for podium positions, so it's been a good year," said John Howett.

However, he admitted that fifth place in the Championship still isn't good enough as Toyota, reportedly the biggest spenders in F1, need to move up a position where they can challenge for race wins and the World title.

"The future is the middle step of the podium, number one," he added. "There's no doubt in my mind that we will win races and become world champions in the future.

"I think the biggest fundamental issues are that we have the right number of people in the areas that give performance.

"We have a much more detailed and comprehensive database, so we know more about every track and what the key performance parameters are. Fundamentally we've got extremely good people doing the important jobs everywhere in the factory.

"So we have the skills, we have the people and I think the reason our performance is stronger this year is because every single element is improving; not just some elements but every element.

"We're finding hundredths of a second every corner and every lap - and that is what is making the difference."

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