Toyota unsure of F1 future

TOKYO // The Toyota Formula One team says their continued participation in the sport is still uncertain and dependent upon the financial performance of their parent company and cost reductions in F1. Toyota's future in F1 has been in doubt since the onset of the economic downturn, which forced both the Honda and BMW teams to announce withdrawals. "We will participate for now," the team principal, Tadashi Yamashina, was quoted as saying by the Yomiuri newspaper. "We have to consider a variety of things in relation to our core business. Our participation is unclear, depending on our financial results."

Toyota had been in Formula One as a team since 2002, and was a signatory to the latest concorde agreement, which governs the terms of the sport and revenue distribution to the end of 2012. Yamashina urged the sport's organisers to do more to reduce costs. Efforts to introduce a spending cap from next season met resistance from the big teams and threatened to prompt a breakaway series before budget restrictions were watered down.

"We must make Formula One more cost effective," he said. The Williams team has been using Toyota engines, but is now looking for a new supplier. * AP