Gascoyne Aims to Give Ralf the 'Right Environment'

Toyota's technical director Mike Gascoyne believes newly signed Ralf Schumacher needs a supportive environment to be consistent, and the Briton star designer plans to offer this to the German at Toyota next year.

Toyota announced last month they have signed Ralf Schumacher for 2005, and the move will see the German once again working with Gascoyne, who was the technical director at Jordan in 1998, when Ralf was racing there prior to moving to Williams the following season.

However, Ralf's move to Toyota, reportedly for a salary of $10 million a year, was met with criticism in the paddock, where the young German is often perceived as capricious and inconsistent. But Gascoyne said Ralf simply needs to right environment to succeed.

"The British press like to give Ralf a hard time," Gascoyne told the Sunday Times. "It ain't easy being Michael's brother, and [Juan Pablo] Montoya ain't the easiest teammate, but you have to say that considering Montoya's supposed to be the dog's bollocks, there's been several weekends when Ralf has absolutely blitzed him.

"The key for us is to make this the right environment for him to be consistently fast. The example I'd give is that it's a similar situation to when Heinz Harald Frentzen left Williams, with pretty much the same reputation: moody, arrogant, inconsistent, all that bull. He came to Jordan and nearly won the World Championship, which shows what sort of difference being in the right environment can make."

Toyota are set to have a new line-up next season, and the Cologne-based team have yet to announce their choice for Ralf's teammate. Jarno Trulli, who also worked with Gascoyne - at Renault, for two seasons - is strongly linked to the team, and Gascoyne did not rule out the possibility, saying the team will take their time in choosing the right teammate for Ralf.

"We're very much aware of [the need to create the right environment] when it comes to choosing a second driver," Gascoyne told the newspaper. "We need someone quick enough to push [Ralf] without being political. Maybe a younger guy, maybe one of our current drivers. After all, Olivier got on with Jacques Villeneuve at BAR, which says something. Jarno Trulli? - could be.

"Having signed Ralf," Gascoyne added, "we won't be rushing into a decision."