Da Matta: Silverstone gave Toyota a boost
Toyota's Formula 1 rookie Cristiano da Matta is hopeful of regaining the form which allowed him to lead the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in this weekend's race at Hockenheim in Germany
Da Matta took full advantage of his three-stop strategy to lead from team-mate Olivier Panis in a brief Toyota 1-2 at Silverstone a fortnight ago. The Brazilian is now focusing his efforts on scoring more points this weekend.
"After briefly leading the race and ultimately picking up two more championship points in Silverstone two weeks' ago, the whole team is in upbeat mood at the moment," said da Matta. "I raced on the old Hockenheimring in 1996, but the circuit has totally changed and will require a very different style of driving, so it will be back to the usual story for me this weekend, with my priority being to learn the track on Friday morning.
"Nevertheless, I have become quite used to learning new tracks quickly and we have new parts on the car for this race, so I remain optimistic about our chances of getting another good result."
Team-mate Panis is also upbeat about his chances at Hockenheim, and is looking forward to trying new development parts.
He explained: "We are introducing some new aero parts this weekend to gain more downforce, and we have a new specification engine, which felt very good in testing. Consequently, I am hopeful that we can maintain our recent good form and get some more points."
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