From the 'Trulli train' to 'Is that Glock?', Toyota's first term in F1

Toyota's rise in F1

It was announced in 2000 that the Japanese manufacturer would join the F1 grid during the 2002 season. After completing testing on 11 circuits in 2001, they began their first season with a positive result, as Mike Salo scored a point immediately in Melbourne. The Finnish driver repeated this by finishing in P6 two Grands Prix later at Interlagos, but with Allan McNish, they failed to score again and finished in P10 in the constructors' in their debut year.

In the following two years, Toyota drivers scored points more regularly, partly thanks to the rule change in 2003, which meant the Top 8 received points. They finished eighth in the constructors' on both occasions. During this period, Olivier Panis finished in P5 twice, at the 2003 German and at the 2004 United States GPs.

In 2005, the team achieved their best season, finishing fourth in the standings with 88 points. Only Renault, McLaren and Ferrari were able to score more than Toyota with Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli. The Italian earned the team's first podium in Malaysia, where he finished in P2, and he repeated that at a Grand Prix later in Bahrain. He then finished third in Spain, while Schumacher also got on the podium twice. The team also earned two pole positions at the controversial US GP and then in Japan.

One last strong start in 2009

However, they could not repeat the same success in the years after. In 2006, Ralf Schumacher finished on the podium once in Australia, and the team finished in P6 in the standings, collecting 53 points less than the year before. In 2007, Toyota failed to reach a podium and only collected 13 points with Schumacher and Trulli.

Trulli remained with the team; however, he was now paired up with Timo Glock in 2008. The team scored better and finished fifth in the standings; however, their best result was the Italian driver finishing fourth in Sepang. Trulli qualified well and was a regular in Q3, but come the Grand Prix, his car was not as strong. Therefore, the term 'Trulli train' was invented, where the Italian defended hard to keep his position as more and more drivers joined the queue.

In 2008, Toyota's call also famously influenced the outcome of the drivers' world championship. As it began to rain in Brazil during the dying laps of the Grand Prix and the championship, the team decided not to put Glock on the intermediate tyres. Lewis Hamilton could catch up and overtake the German and, therefore, scored enough points to earn his first-ever title.

The team competed for the last time in the 2009 season. Trulli immediately finished on the podium that year in Melbourne, which was followed by Glock's first-ever F1 podium in Malaysia. The Italian could step on the podium again in Bahrain (where he also got the team's first-ever pole position since 2005) and Japan, while Glock could also finish second in Singapore. In their final year, Toyota finished fifth in the constructors with 59.5 points.

The team was almost finished with its engine and chassis for 2010. However, it never joined the grid. Stefan Grand Prix, a proposed team, could reach an agreement with Toyota, but it was not granted entry to the competition.

Toyota as an engine supplier

Toyota made the engines for its factory team and supplied other teams. In 2005, they manufactured power units for Jordan, and their relationship continued once the team was bought out and changed to Midland F1 and then Spyker the season after. From 2007 until 2009, they also supplied engines for Williams.