Toyota Miss Deadline to Appeal Disqualification

Toyota have revealed they intended to appeal the FIA's decision to disqualify their cars from today's Canadian Grand Prix.

The Japanese squad, however, were unable to meet the deadline.

Current regulations state any appeals must be forwarded to the FIA within one hour of the publication of the decision. Moreover, teams must announce their decision to appeal before the cars are released from Parc Ferme.

In case of an appeal, the cars are impounded until the hearing.

"After an internal discussion with the relevant personnel, we intended to appeal against the disqualification imposed by the stewards of the meeting, however we were unable to meet the FIA appeal deadline," said Toyota's present John Howett.

"I must stress that the alleged technical infringement resulted in absolutely no increase in our performance level during today's race. The brake ducts on our race cars were still within a generally accepted tolerance level.

"We reluctantly accept this unpleasant penalty and must now look to next week's Grand Prix in Indianapolis."

Toyota and Williams failed a post race technical inspection for using oversized brake ducts on their cars, and both teams were disqualified.

While Williams lost Ralf Schumacher's second place and Juan Pablo Montoya's fifth, Toyota lost the point scored by Cristiano da Matta, who had finished in eighth position ahead of French teammate Olivier Panis, tenth in the race.

Toyota's technical director Mike Gascoyne said the team had accepted the FIA's decision, although they believed their cars were within the rules.

"Unfortunately, the front brake ducts on our cars were found to be illegal after today's Canadian Grand Prix," said Gascoyne. "We presented a case to the stewards of the meeting, attributing the cause to a stack-up of manufacturing tolerances, stating that even with this, the brake ducts were still within a generally accepted tolerance level.

"The stewards of the meeting decided not to accept this case and whilst we are disappointed to lose our hard-fought eighth and tenth places, we have to accept their decision. It is Toyota's policy to always run cars that conform to all regulations. This is simply a regrettable and unforeseen issue that led to no competitive advantage."