Toyota Expect to Win Next Year, Says President

Toyota Motor Corporation president Fujio Cho, visiting the paddock at the German Grand Prix, said the team should be in a position to win races by next year, based on the company's three-year plan since they entered Formula One last year.

"It is our ambition to be challenging at the very top, to win races and to stay at the top for as long as possible," he said.

Company vice-president Toshiro Kursu added: "Our plan is to challenge the top teams by next year and I believe and I hope we can win a race then."

Kursu also said a firm announcement on Toyota's line-up for 2004 would be made next week. He said both Frenchman Olivier Panis and Brazilian Cristiano da Matta, who have contracts to the end of next year, were likely to be retained as the main race drivers.

Panis is starting Sunday's Grand Prix in seventh place on the grid while da Matta was ninth. The team are ninth out of the 10 teams in the Constructors' Championship standings, with just seven points.

Cho said the team, based in Europe with many different nationalities employed on the staff, was learning to follow "the Toyota way".

He said this meant pursuing four main goals - teamwork, a hands-on and on-the-spot approach to solving difficulties, continuous improvement and respect for people.