Toyota cut F1 budget after Honda exit

That is the revelation from team principal Tadashi Yamashina, who has told news agency Reuters that he has never seen such sizeable costs cuts since he has been at the company.

"Our Formula 1 budget was cut again and again from its original figure," Yamashina said. "It was cut again after Honda's announcement they were leaving F1 and within a month the figure was reduced again after Toyota's end of yearly earnings target was revised.

"I'm not able to put a figure on how much the Formula 1 budget was slashed by, but in all my time at Toyota I have never seen cuts like it."

Toyota president John Howett admitted earlier this season that the pressure was on the team to capture its first victory in 2009, with such a result likely to be the only outcome that will please Japanese bosses.

Yamashina confirmed that good performances on track, which look highly likely judging by testing performances shown so far, are vital.

"Winning and results are important," Yamashina said. "There are other factors too. It's a business and unless we make the team viable, next year we may have to cut costs further."