Disappointed Toyota Refusing to be Downbeat

Toyota team boss Over Andersson refused to be downbeat despite a very disappointing race day for the Japanese squad at the European Grand Prix.

Frenchman Oliver Panis and Brazilian Cristiano da Matta ran in the points during the race after a strong qualifying showing, with Panis starting the race from seventh position while da Matta did it from 10th spot.

But both drivers failed to turn that into a good result today after retiring with mechanical problems, and Andersson was very disappointed.

"Words cannot explain how upsetting this result is for the whole team after the strong showing we achieved on Friday and Saturday," said Andersson. "The reason for Cristiano's retirement was quite clearly an engine failure, but the exact problem will have to be investigated.

"Olivier was suffering from intermittent brake locking, which made his car difficult to control, ultimately resulting in the spin that put him out of the race. But, again, we do not know the precise cause of this.

"We now travel the short distance back to the factory in Cologne, where we will study the race data in detail to determine exactly what went wrong. I absolutely refuse to be downbeat. The team and drivers have done an impressive job this weekend and we must simply learn from the race and look ahead with optimism to next weekend's French Grand Prix."