An odd thing is happening. I am beginning to be quite kindly disposed towards the Toyota team. They have been such a perfect example of how big corporations should not approach F1 that it was easy to get into the habit of scorning their efforts. To many of us, they seemed the epitome of how not to do things and we have criticized the odd decisions apparently made from on high, the tendency to throw money at problems, their disdain for some of the great names of the sport, even the conservatism of the car's livery.
The Trulli Train
It was in Bahrain that I first noticed a shift in my attitude. The cars were quick and I found myself hoping that they would achieve their first win there. Even before that, I had remarked on how well designed the TF109 appeared to be and was gratified on being proved correct when the races began. But there is more to this than just a better car than before.
I was browsing the team website this morning when the real reason for my conversion became apparent. The site is quite slick on the surface, if not overwhelmingly corporate, but scratch a bit and endearing qualities of amateurism come to the eye. It struck me then that the unnoticed fact about Toyota F1 is that they are still beginners in a way that most teams shed after a couple of years in the game. In spite of their seven years in F1, the team has retained a certain innocence towards the harder facts of life in the sport.
The most recent example of this is their bungled strategy in Bahrain, somehow managing to snatch defeat from a race that should have been theirs. But there is more, not least the fact that the latest news on their site (barring a screensaver and a some wallpaper) is a politely worded note regarding the WMSC's decision on the double diffusers. Not for them the crowing assertion that they were right all along - instead they content themselves with an almost apologetic explanation of their development of the diffuser.
Even the team's choice of drivers, so often criticized in the past, begins to look quite cozy now. Who can dislike the smiling Jarno Trulli, after all, or say mean things about the battling Timo Glock? They may not be superstars but they are honest and capable of great performances on the track.
And, talking of smiling, it is easy to warm to the cheery John Howett, Toyota Motorsport's president. The man in charge of the chassis, Pascal Vasselon, too, is one of the most sensible voices in F1. It's not a bad team and I am persuaded to be kinder to them in future.
John Howett
Perhaps it was all this that made me notice how the team were almost ignored in the comments to Keith Collantine's post, Teams bringing new parts to catch Brawn (Spanish Grand Prix preview). Yet in the graphs supplied by Keith, Toyota stood out as the most serious threat to Brawn GP, most often providing the closest competition.
That is the kind of thing that makes me want a team to win; if no one else is going to point out their qualities, then I will take up the challenge. And so I find it quite satisfying to say that Toyota should not be forgotten. We may be expecting some changes to the pecking order, now that the European races are about to begin, but I reckon Toyota will still be up there, looking for their first win and giving everyone something to think about in the process. They will not always get the strategy wrong, after all...