Toyota Quitting Formula One, Says Japanese Paper

Yet another big boy is leaving Formula One, and it is Toyota, according to Japanese newspaper Mainichi. Toyota has yet to confirm or deny this rumour, but the report says the official confirmation will emerge on November 8th. If it turns out to be true, Toyota will be following the footsteps of Honda and BMW out F1's doors.

However, this report is as unsurprising as it comes: Toyota is “grasping for salvation” as Toyota Motor Co. president Akio Toyoda previously put it; and Toyota's decision not to host the Japanese Grand Prix at its Fuji Speedway circuit was yet another indication of Toyota's financial difficulties.

In good times, Toyota spends as much as USD 400 million per year on its F1 Team, reaping branding and technological benefits along the way—which goes some distance into mitigating the fact that the team has not won a single race in 139 attempts over seven years.

AboutSeow Yaohan

Seow Yao Han strives to bring you the latest and the most comprehensive information on cars available in Malaysia. But it's never easy for him to talk and write cars in this part of the world because what you lust after is often not what you drive home. When the euphoria of test-driving that branded, super-expensive sports car dies down, he just goes home in his less-than-glamorous ride.