Trulli: It's time to deliver for Toyota

"I feel Toyota have come to an age and a situation where we really need to deliver," Trulli told autosport.com during the launch of the TF109.

"We need to do that in order to justify the reason to stay in F1. I won't say it is vital, but it is very, very important nowadays.

"In the past few seasons, Toyota were a little bit up and down. But we had a good season last year, with good performance and a good atmosphere, and I hope we can now deliver good results. It's time to make a step and join the top three teams."

Toyota have been surrounded by speculation about their future in the sport following Honda's decision to withdraw from grand prix racing before the start of the season.

The Cologne-based squad, however, have insisted they remain committed to F1 as long as it remains a technological challenge for them.

Trulli admitted the Honda news was a shock for him, but he believes Toyota are in a different situation.

"To be honest I asked myself what was going on," Trulli said. "When Honda pulled out it was a big shock for everyone. But we are talking about Toyota, which I think is a different matter to Honda - although I cannot judge them.

"Given the problem of the worldwide (economic) system, you can imagine anything at the moment. But Toyota were strong enough, and the message was clear that they are committed to F1. I was straight away very confident we would carry on."

He added: "I believe Toyota are committed to F1, but they are only committed if there is a reason to stay in F1. And that means being one of the top teams.

"This is a key season for teams like Toyota, as we believe there is finally enough experience to be on top. That is what we have to do, to deliver on the results."

The Italian also conceded there is pressure to start winning races, but he is optimistic the new car will be strong enough to do that.

"There is pressure on anyone, but I don't feel it so much. It is part of the job, as every year there is pressure.

"We know we have to deliver some very good results but this is not only down to me, it's down to everybody - the whole team and drivers. We need to deliver the best possible results and I hope the team will be strong enough to deliver a good car, and once I have a good car I can deliver results on the track."