Published November 5, 2009

Toyota leaves F1 grid in tears

But it may not have a clean break as it signed agreement to take part until 2012

By SAMUEL EE

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(SINGAPORE) 'We never compare money to results. The value of F1 (Formula One) is not counted in dollars,' said Tadashi Yamashina when asked about his Toyota Racing F1 team's huge budget a year ago in a BT interview on the eve of the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix.

Emotional goodbye: Mr Yamashina breaking down as the announcement was made at a press conference yesterday

Maybe he should have because his boss at parent Toyota Motor Corp (TMC) announced yesterday that the world's biggest car maker was 'pulling out of Formula One completely'.

TMC president Akio Toyoda offered his 'deepest apologies to Toyota's many fans for not being able to achieve the results we had targeted'.

'This was a difficult but ultimately unavoidable decision,' he said at a news conference in Tokyo yesterday afternoon. 'Since last year with the worsening economic climate, we have been struggling with the question of whether to continue in F1.'

Mr Yamashina, who was present at the press conference, broke down and wept as the announcement was made.

Toyota's 'struggle' was evident throughout this season as rumours swirled of its possible withdrawal from F1. After all, the global economic crisis had wiped out car sales and caused TMC to lose US$4.4 billion for the last fiscal year ended March 31 - its first in 59 years.

Its F1 team had been one of the glamorous sport's biggest spenders, along with Ferrari and McLaren. Its 2008 budget was reported to be US$445 million - including everything from sponsorship and supplier deals to prize money and team owner contributions. Its 2009 budget was reduced by 35 per cent but apparently, this still wasn't enough. Despite coming close, the team has failed to win a single race since its debut in 2002.

Toyota has also ruled out supplying engines to other teams and its pullout means that there will soon be no Japanese corporate presence left in F1.

Honda exited last December, although it was reborn as the wildly successful Brawn GP team. On Monday, F1's sole tyre supplier Bridgestone said that it would not renew its contract when the current deal expires in end-2010.

In the world rallying championship, there has also been an exodus by Japanese companies Subaru and Suzuki, while motorcycle maker Kawasaki has dropped its MotoGP team.

With Toyota's departure, F1 is left with just three car manufacturers - Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Renault.

In July, BMW had announced that it would leave F1 at the end of this season, although the BMW-Sauber team was later bought by a Swiss-based company.

Despite Toyota's announcement yesterday, it may not have the clean break that it desires from F1 because of possible legal complications. Earlier this year, the carmaker signed the concorde agreement to participate in F1 until 2012.

Toyota has been involved in motorsport for almost half a century but it made its foray into F1 with its own car only in 2002. The main aim was to create a good image of the Toyota brand and, according to Mr Yamashina, win fans around the world - whether or not they buy a Toyota.

In light of its exit, there is no doubt that it certainly would have helped if each of those fans had bought a car.