Ominous Deadline
The sentence has but seven words - 'I have been given two more years' - but, taken to its logical conclusion, the long-term fall-out has the potential to change the face and make-up of Formula One way beyond the projected life-span of the sport's prevailing regulations.
When Toyota Motorsport GmbH chairman and Formula One team principal Tadashi Yamashina made the written statement last week it was nothing if not an unusually honest (by both corporate and F1 standards) admission that the Japanese giant's Formula One endeavours have failed to deliver, despite the team having one of the largest annual budgets in the sport.
At the time Toyota announced its intention of entering F1, the expectations - both internal and external - were huge.