Toyota aiming for maiden F1 win

"It is natural that we enter the 2006 championship with our sights on the top step of the podium," said team principal Tsutomu Tomita as the team officially launched their new car.

"We are pushing very hard, but we don't underestimate the difficulty of Formula One or the challenges we face in 2006. If somebody goes up, then somebody else has to drop down the order.

"Even if we can get that first win we will have to push ourselves more to keep that position."

The Japanese squad, who made their Formula One debut in 2002, scored their first podium finish last season and finished in fourth place in the Constructors' Championship.

The team's drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli scored five podiums in total.

Despite the team's ambitions being clear in Tomita's mind, the team principal reckons it's hard to predict what will happen this season, with the introduction of new rules.

"It's very difficult to predict what will happen, especially with all the variables we face this year with a new V8 engine, new Bridgestone tyres and a revised qualifying format," said Tomita. "With that in mind, we should aim to be the best Bridgestone team this year.

"We were a podium scoring team last year, and any team looking to develop must always set its sights higher. Obviously that means finishing on the podium consistently, and ultimately finishing on the top step."