New look Toyota get jump start on rivals

The digital temperature read-out on the start line registered only 3C (37F) yesterday as Olivier Panis edged out on to a soaking circuit to give the Toyota TF103 its maiden test outing, but the signs are that the team's resources will insulate them from the chill financial winds battering many of their rivals.

Toyota not only won the race to be the first team officially to unveil a new challenger for the 2003 season, their reputed £135m annual operating budget could give a dramatic boost to their fortunes in only their second world championship season. At a time when the sport seems to be immersed in financial doom and gloom their programme reflects nothing but upbeat optimism.

The Japanese car maker is having great success at the moment, selling over 6 million cars globally last year, and with plenty of money in the bank and several high-profile sponsors it has no worries about adequate funding for its formula one challenge.

By contrast many of its rivals are struggling to make ends meet. Next week both Jordan and Minardi will be scraping together their pennies to pay the first £1.1m instalments on their leased Cosworth engines and they have no plans for lavish launch ceremonies when their cars are completed.

Jaguar, mindful of the dozens of redundancies they made last November, will be unveiling their R4 on the internet. Even the front runners BMW Williams will be having a low-key roll-out of their new car at Barcelona in a couple of weeks and McLaren-Mercedes will not show their MP4/18 until four or five races into the season.

It would be difficult to imagine more impressive surroundings in which to unveil a formula one car than this circuit in France which was bought by Bernie Ecclestone three years ago and developed into the most sophisticated test track in the world.

Taking advantage of these state-of-the-art facilities, Toyota have also invested about £17m in a testing base at Paul Ricard which has enabled them to undertake an intensive test and development programme away from prying eyes. This is separate from the team's headquarters in Cologne where the majority of the 560-strong workforce is based.

The team are also making a fresh start with their driver line-up, Olivier Panis and the reigning Cart champion Cristiano da Matta, a 29-year-old Brazilian, replacing Finland's Mika Salo and the Scot Allan McNish.

At 36, Panis will be the oldest driver racing in formula one this season, unless Eddie Irvine bags the vacant place in the second Jordan alongside Giancarlo Fisichella. Yet the 1996 Monaco grand prix winner comes to Toyota with a good reputation, which was honed during the 2000 season he spent as McLaren's test driver. This not only kick-started his flagging career but confirmed him as a driver every bit as quick as the two-times world champion Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.

Now after two fruitless seasons alongside Jacques Villeneuve as No2 in the struggling BAR-Honda squad, Panis looks forward to his role as Toyota team leader. He displayed measured optimism about the new Toyota, the carefully honed aerodynamic profile of which reflects the lines of last year's world championship-winning Ferrari F2002.

"When I first drove the test car I was very impressed with its new V10 engine but a little concerned about the lack of aerodynamic downforce," said the Frenchman. "But the new car has reaped the benefit of the team's new wind tunnel, which is working 15 hours every day.

"The new car is a big step forward. The drivability and the torque of the new engine are very impressive. For me it is much better than what I had to drive last year."

Ove Andersson, the Toyota team principal, said: "Realistically we should be aiming for top-10 qualifying positions in every race and to challenge for points on a regular basis."

Jordan and Jaguar, in particular, should be so lucky.

Teams and their war chests

(All budget figures estimated)

Ferrari £275m

McLaren £180m

Williams £180m

Toyota £135m

BAR £110m

Renault £95m

Jaguar £48m

Sauber £45m

Jordan £35m

Minardi £20m