For years the question surrounding Toyota was: will they ever supply value for money? Sadly the answer was an emphatic no after they pulled out of the sport at the end of the 2009 season.
Although this is their first foray in Formula One, Toyota nonetheless have had a long history in motorsport, with much of their success coming in the World Rally Championship in which they have won seven titles.
They also entered the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1998 and 1999, finishing in second place in 1999 and have had a strong CART presence for a number of years.
2002, their first year in Formula One, was closely watched but yielded no points. Drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish were widely blamed but given the huge budget at their disposal and the limitless testing they did - in 2001 they ran a whole shadow season - there was no doubt that the team as a whole should have done so much better.
Given the potential power of Toyota, rival teams still feared they would be at the front of the grid in just a few years' time, and the 2003 season saw that threat begin to materialise.
Both Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta put in some impressive performances, although there were more disappointments than celebrations.
Yet that improvement was reversed in 2004. Panis and da Matta failed to inspire while the team was left to rue the boast of boss Tsutomu Tomita that they would score points at every race. In all, a paltry nine were forthcoming - even Jaguar scored more.
Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher replaced Panis and da Matta for the 2005 campaign which finally saw a few dividends from Toyota's hard work and financial.
The year couldn't have started better with Trulli grabbing three podiums in the opening four races. And although their first race victory remained elusive, the Cologne outfit claimed further top-three results courtesy of Ralf, which helped elevate them to fourth in the constructors' battle.
Having had a taste of the podium champagne, Toyota were keen to move forward in 2006 where once again, Schumacher and Trulli were behind the wheels of the Cologne-based team's cars. But it didn't happen.
The team got off to a bad start at the opening race in Bahrain, where Ralf and Trulli struggled for pace, eventually finishing a dismal 14th and 16th places respectively.
Ralf, though, gave them some hope when he claimed eighth place and third place at the following two races in Malaysia and Australia. However, the German's podium finish in Oz was to be Toyota's first and last top-three result of the season.
The team's disappointing start to the season led to internal strife within the team that eventually resulted in technical director Mike Gascoyne packing his bags and leaving in April.
Toyota's results did, however, improve around the mid-season mark, at least in qualifying. In races, though, they were besieged by technical and mechanical problems.
And 2007 wasn't any better, in fact it was worse. A total of seven points-scoring finishes were achieved throughout the 17-race campaign, with not a single podium results in sight. It was a drop of 22 points for Toyota, who struggled in the practice sessions, qualifying and the grands prix.
The end result was the axing of Ralf Schumacher, who departed Toyota and F1 at the end of the season while Trulli was given a new team-mate for the new season in Timo Glock.
2008 saw some improvements from Toyota, however, their maiden victory still wasn't forthcoming as the Cologne-based outfit battled to take the one big step forward. They eventually finished the season fifth in the standings on 56 points which once again led to the team promising that first win when they launched their TF109 car, but patience at Toyota's Japanese headquarters may be stretched way passed thin.
At the start of the year it looked like 2009 might be THE YEAR for Toyota, especially after they found themselves as one of the members of the so-called 'Diffuser Three'. It looked promising when Trulli and Glock finished third and fourth respectively in Australia. The duo then swapped places in the weather-hit Malaysian GP.
Trulli claimed the first pole of the season in Bahrain, but that top spot remained elusive as he could only manage a third place. After that they hit a brick wall and the points trickled in for the bulk of the European season. Their form picked up again in Asia and they again got a few opportunities to claim THAT win and appease the powers-that-be.
Sadly, it never materialised and Glock had to be content with a second-place finish in Singapore. He was forced to sit out the final three races of the season after picking up a leg injury during a crash in qualifying in Japan and was replaced by reserve driver Kamui Kobayashi.
Trulli meanwhile had one last chance to claim the team's first win when he qualifed P2 at the team's home race in Japan. Unfortunately he also could only manage a second place.
That, as they say, was that. Despite finishing fifth in the Constructors' Championship with 59.5 points and five podiums, the parent company decided it could no longer pump cash into the F1 team after suffering its first-ever financial loss and pulled out of the sport. It remains to be seen if anyone will snap up the team.
