Japan preview quotes: Toyota

"But I have confidence going into the Japanese Grand Prix, which is an important race for us as a team and of course for our Japanese fans. It is impossible for me and the team to push any harder than we have already been doing this season, because we have given everything, but I know our fans will give us great support as always and I will be fighting really hard to get a strong result."

Timo Glock: "Singapore was a good race for me and I was pleased to score five points but we still lost ground in the Constructors' Championship so we want to hit back immediately and that means scoring plenty of points in the Japanese Grand Prix. This will be my first visit to Fuji Speedway and I am looking forward to it, especially as I am a Toyota driver and I'm sure we will get a lot of support.

"Having not driven the track before it's hard to make predictions but we have been strong at most races this season and we are very motivated to be competitive again. Singapore was a bit too bumpy for our car so we could not show our true potential but I don't expect the same problem at Fuji Speedway, although from what I have heard the weather can be an issue there. I actually enjoy driving in the rain and I believe it is one of my strong points, so I don't mind what the weather does!"

Pascal Vasselon - Senior General Manager Chassis: "The Japanese Grand Prix is a special race for our team and it is important to us to do well. Fuji Speedway has every type of corner; slow, medium and high speed, plus a very long straight. In terms of setting up the car it is challenging because you have to be able to deal with all these situations, although in general you can say that the track requires medium downforce.

"It is a track which requires our baseline aero configuration. We have put a lot of effort into developing our baseline package throughout the season and we have produced some upgrades for this race. We call it our Fuji package but in fact some bits are already on the car and the most recent items can be used at all the last three Grands Prix of the season. It should help us.

"It is medium grip and it shows no special severities in terms of tyres or brakes. One other thing we learnt last year was that the weather can be awful! But we saw at Monza that we have strong pace in wet conditions so that does not worry us."

Tadashi Yamashina

Q. Are you looking forward to the Japanese Grand Prix?

TY: I am very much looking forward to racing at Fuji Speedway. Last year was the first time in 30 years that the track hosted a Grand Prix and I was very impressed by the circuit. It is not only a home race for the team but it is my home race personally and I will meet several friends and colleagues while I am in Japan. That makes for a very special atmosphere. Of course we will also welcome some of Toyota Motor Corporation's top management to the track so I hope we can give a very strong performance.

Q. Is there extra pressure on the team for the Japanese Grand Prix?

TY: I would not say we have any extra pressure but of course we receive a lot of encouragement from Toyota Motor Corporation; they make a lot of very positive comments and they are very interested in the team's performance. Inside the company we put ourselves under positive pressure to do well at every race, and even more so at a home race like Fuji. Team work is very important for Toyota and every part of the company works as a team, so the support and encouragement we get from top management helps us. They are pushing us but it is not negative pressure.

Q. What are your goals for the Japanese Grand Prix and the remainder of the season?

TY: We want to score a lot of points in the Japanese Grand Prix and hopefully fight for the podium. For the rest of the season it is very important to close the gap on the leading teams because at the moment this is bigger than it should be. We will fight to finish on the podium again and we will continue to pursue our ultimate ambition, which is to win races.

John Howett (President)

Q. The Japanese Grand Prix is a home race for Panasonic Toyota Racing, but is it the home race?

JH: For our team, there are three home races. The German race is naturally considered to be our local event because we are based in Cologne; obviously it is more local when it is at the Nürburgring but nevertheless Hockenheim is also a home race. The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa is only an hour from our factory but it is also the home event for Toyota Europe, which is based in Brussels. Then we come to Fuji Speedway and the Japanese Grand Prix. It is a very important event for us and it is obviously a home race because Toyota originates from Japan. At all these home races we enjoy a lot of local support and we are especially keen to get the right results.

Q. How Japanese is Panasonic Toyota Racing?

JH: Toyota has a corporate culture rather than a national culture; we have manufacturing plants on all continents and we sell cars in virtually all countries of the world. As a team, Panasonic Toyota Racing is, I would say, global - we are too multi-national to say we are Japanese, German or even European. Perhaps you could say our spiritual heart is in Japan. We have a healthy contingent of Japanese team members but we operate independently of our parent company. Basically we agree a budget and a strategy prior to each year and they trust us to pursue those targets.

Q. Do you believe Panasonic Toyota Racing will finish fourth in the Constructors' Championship?

JH: I am confident we can finish fourth this season because I know we have the potential and the will to achieve our targets. However, this team does not exist to finish fourth; we exist to win. Therefore we have other targets over the remainder of the season. We aim to improve our performance relative to the other teams and that means fighting for podium finishes - we are aggressively developing the car in order to do that. At the same time we must continue the strong progress we have made on the 2009 car. This is not an easy task but nothing about Formula 1 is easy and we are ready for the challenge.