Gascoyne planning Ralf's arrival

Gascoyne also reckons that Ralf has been labelled with a reputation that is not representative of him.

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

"The key for us is to make 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."

The Briton also indicated that Toyota's choice of second driver would be based on the principle as well: "We're very much aware of that when it comes to choosing a second driver. We need someone quick enough to push him 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, we won't be rushing into a decision."