Trulli: Win vital to keep Toyota in F1

The world's biggest car maker has repeatedly insisted that it has no plans to leave Formula One, despite the current economic crisis which has already forced Honda to withdraw from the sport.

Trulli said, however, that the team must start winning in order to secure their future.

"Toyota's message has been very clear: we carry on with F1, however we all have a great responsibility to try to bring home the maiden victory, which could be decisive for the future," Trulli was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.

Toyota, who will unveil their new car today, joined Formula One in 2002, but in seven seasons the team have scored just eight podiums and no victories.

Trulli said it didn't matter where the victory is achieved as long as it happens in the early part of the season.

"That (the circuit) is not important, what counts is for it to happen in the first six races," he added.

The Italian also admitted he is in the dark about the development of the KERS system.

"I don't know much about KERS: I think it's an internal project, of which us drivers are not informed about," he told Autosprint. "Am I afraid it may not be ready? Well, energy recovery has plenty of question marks. It has to be seen and could end up being a double-edged weapon.

"No one knows what you can gain, but neither what you can lose with this device. First of all its reliability will need to be verified. Only then can it be evaluated.

"Despite all the cost cuts, in the end they carried on insisting on a solution, the KERS, that will force huge development costs. That seems like a big contradiction to me, but that's just my point of view."