Toyota Not Worried about Big Task Ahead

The new Toyota Formula One team are aware of the big task ahead in their first year in Formula One but are not worried about it, according to team boss Ove Andersson.

"It is a big task, yes, but we are not that much worried," said Andersson during the launch of their 2002 car in Germany on Monday. "We have been reasonably on schedule with whatever we've done up to now.

"I am now looking forward to testing the new car and to lining up on the grid in Melbourne for Toyota's first ever Grand Prix weekend."

The team, seen as free spenders with a massive war chest for their Formula One campaign, were coy about their budget for the season but Andersson denied that it dwarfed other teams.

"I don't think that we have more resources than any other front-running teams," he said. "People like to give that impression but it is not fair. Success is not a matter of money. It is about a good team working well together and getting everything right."

The team are backed by the third largest automotive company in the world with an annual production exceeding 5.9 million vehicles in the year 2000.

The team's base was recently expanded from 18,000 to 30,000 square metres as the Formula One project got into gear. Calibration of their on-site wind tunnel is drawing to a close, and the team said it should be up and running early in 2002.