21/03/2007
NEWS STORY
Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher has called on his team's fans to be patient, advising them that it takes time to be successful in F1.
Of course many might say how much time, especially when Ralf's comments come just a couple of months after Toyota boss Tsutomu Tomita publicly apologised for his team's performance in 2006, a performance which saw the Japanese outfit finish behind newcomers BMW in the championship.
"It hasn't been as successful as I wished it to be," Schumacher told reporters during a promotional visit to India on behalf of team sponsor Kingfisher Airlines. "My time with Toyota is looking good and promising. But as you have seen F1 is a difficult business and you need patience.
"One thing is very clear, you can't buy success," he added, a revelation that comes a little too late for his employers. "You can't buy experience too. You are fighting against teams that have been (in F1) for twenty, thirty years. We are the only team in the last fifteen years to have started from scratch. It takes a while."
Of course, some might say that Schumacher is part of the problem, the German, like his Italian teammate Jarno Trulli, only performing spasmodically, never on a regular basis. Many fans and insiders were truly (no pun intended) surprised to see the Cologne based outfit retain the duo for a third successive season.
Although pre-season testing wasn't promising, the Toyotas went well in Melbourne, with Schumacher scoring a point for the Japanese team, having finished just ahead of his teammate.
Locked in a furious battle with Honda - which has its own problems - many believe that should Toyota enjoy another fruitless season, the Japanese team will either walk away from F1 to concentrate on other disciplines or, more likely, go into partnership with Williams.