McNish: structure holding Toyota back

The Scottish driver raced for the team in their first season back in 2002, and he believes that racing teams need one person at the helm making the big decisions.

"Toyota has a massive budget, but it's not all about money, it's about people," McNish said on the main stage at the Autosport International Show.

"Look at the top teams in F1. Ron Dennis rules at McLaren, Jean Todt has done it for many years at Ferrari. They are prepared to slam their fist down when a big decision has to be made, and look at the success they've had.

"Toyota doesn't have that sort of system, and as far as money, Renault won the title for two years with much smaller budgets than McLaren or Ferrari."

Former F1 driver Mark Blundell appeared on the stage shortly after McNish, and the ITV F1 pundit backed up the Audi driver's comments.

"Allan is right, because Toyota hasn't achieved what everyone would expect from a company like that," said Blundell, who added that he fears for the squad's long-term future in the sport.

"It's plain to see that they haven't delivered yet. They need someone like a Ross Brawn in charge. There's a lot of pride there, but I fear if they don't start getting the results in the next couple of years, we might not see Toyota for too much longer in F1."