Editing Toyota in Formula One (section)

===2002–2004: early years===

====2002====
[[File:McNish toyota 2002.jpg|thumb|[[Allan McNish]] at the [[2002 French Grand Prix]]. The Scot qualified in seventeenth place, but retired from the race with an engine problem although he did complete enough laps to be classified eleventh.]]

Toyota F1 made their Formula One debut in {{F1|2002}}, with McNish and Salo driving the Toyota TF102, designed by [[Gustav Brunner]].<ref name="Unofficial1"/> Despite reportedly having one of the biggest budgets in Formula One,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4157743.stm "Toyota predict massive progress"] [[BBC Sport]]. Retrieved 30 October 2006</ref> Toyota scored only two points all year. Their first point was scored in their first race, the [[2002 Australian Grand Prix|Australian Grand Prix]], when half the field was eliminated by a first corner accident caused by [[Ralf Schumacher]] colliding with [[Rubens Barrichello]].<ref name="BeginnersLuck"/><ref>[http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2002/5/ "2002 Australian GP Results"] [[Formula1.com]] Retrieved 4 July 2007</ref> The team could have scored another point in the next race at the [[2002 Malaysian Grand Prix|Malaysian Grand Prix]], but Salo suffered an electrical misfire and the team fumbled McNish's [[pit stop]]. The Scot thus lost ground, and finished seventh, just out of the points, behind [[Sauber]]'s [[Felipe Massa]].<ref>[[Alan Henry]] ed. (2002) 'Malaysian GP' ''Autocourse 2002–2003'' p.105 Hazleton Publishing {{ISBN|1-903135-10-9}}</ref> The [[2002 Brazilian Grand Prix|Brazilian Grand Prix]], third race of the season, yielded Toyota's second and final point, once again scored by Salo. McNish endured a huge crash during practice for the end-of-season [[2002 Japanese Grand Prix|Japanese Grand Prix]] and missed the race on medical advice.<ref>[http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=108903&FS=F1 "Huge crash for McNish in Japanese GP qualifying"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014710/http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=108903&FS=F1 |date=30 September 2007 }} Motorsport.com Retrieved 11 July 2007</ref><ref>Alan Henry ed. (2002) 'Japanese GP' ''Autocourse 2002–2003'' p.233 Hazleton Publishing {{ISBN|1-903135-10-9}}</ref> Neither McNish nor Salo were offered a race seat for 2003.<ref>Alan Henry ed. (2002) 'Panasonic Toyota Racing' ''Autocourse 2002–2003'' pp.82–84 Hazleton Publishing {{ISBN|1-903135-10-9}}</ref>

====2003====
For the {{F1|2003}} season, Toyota signed [[Brazil]]ian [[Cristiano da Matta]], who had won the American [[ChampCar]] series the previous year using a Toyota powered car, and former [[British American Racing|BAR]] driver [[Olivier Panis]] to take over the racing duties from Salo and McNish.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/2282359.stm "Toyota close on Da Matta"] [[BBC Sport]] Retrieved 17 June 2007</ref> A wider points system were just what Toyota needed to score points in 2003. The team managed several points finishes during the season, but only as high as fifth place in [[2003 German Grand Prix|Germany]].<ref>[http://www.toyota-f1.com/public/en/motorsports/roadtof1/2000.html "The road to F1"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629065754/http://www.toyota-f1.com/public/en/motorsports/roadtof1/2000.html |date=29 June 2007 }} Toyota F1.com Retrieved 4 July 2007</ref> 

High points of the season included Toyotas running first and second in the [[2003 British Grand Prix|British Grand Prix]], thanks to making their pit stops whilst the [[safety car]] was out,<ref>[http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=130657&FS=F1 "British GP 2003:Toyota race notes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927190648/http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=130657&FS=F1 |date=27 September 2007 }} Motorsport.com Retrieved 11 July 2007</ref> and Panis qualifying third at the [[2003 United States Grand Prix|US Grand Prix]].<ref>[http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=138179&FS=F1 "US GP Qualifying:Toyota race notes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927190530/http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=138179&FS=F1 |date=27 September 2007 }} Motorsport.com Retrieved 11 July 2007</ref> At the end of the season, the team had accumulated sixteen points, an improvement on the previous season, but still only 8th in the constructors' championship, ahead of the struggling [[Jordan Grand Prix]] team and Minardi.<ref>Alan Henry ed. (2003) 'Panasonic Toyota Racing' ''Autocourse 2003–2004'' pp.82–83 Hazleton Publishing {{ISBN|1-903135-20-6}}</ref>

====2004====
[[File:Toyota f1 usgp 2004.jpg|thumb|230px|left|[[Olivier Panis]] driving the Toyota TF104 at the 2004 [[United States Grand Prix]] at [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway|Indianapolis]]. He finished the race in 5th.]]

Toyota retained their driver line-up for {{F1|2004}}, but the season proved difficult. Both Toyotas (together with [[Williams Grand Prix Engineering|Williams]] cars) were disqualified from the [[2004 Canadian Grand Prix|Canadian Grand Prix]] for running illegal parts. Cristiano da Matta, following disappointing performances, left the team after the [[2004 German Grand Prix|German Grand Prix]] and was replaced by fellow Brazilian [[Ricardo Zonta]], who had been the team's [[third driver]]. Zonta drove for Toyota for the subsequent four rounds, before being replaced by [[Italy|Italian]] [[Jarno Trulli]], who had left the [[Renault F1|Renault works team]]. Panis, meanwhile, announced his retirement from racing, and bowed out before the final race of the season in [[2004 Brazilian Grand Prix|Brazil]] to allow Zonta, who had stepped aside for Trulli, to compete in his home race.<ref>Olivier Panis [http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s176/st88717.htm www.sportnetwork.net] Retrieved 2 February 2007.</ref> Neither Trulli nor Zonta scored points for the team in those late season races, although Trulli qualified well in both [[list of Formula One Grands Prix|Grands Prix]] he took part in. Toyota brought in ex-Jordan and [[Renault F1|Renault]] designer [[Mike Gascoyne]] early in the year to oversee the development of the car, which improved during the year. The team scored just over half the points they scored in 2003, but equalled their best finish of fifth at the [[2004 United States Grand Prix|United States Grand Prix]] with Panis and maintained their 8th place in the constructors' championship.<ref>Alan Henry ed. (2004) 'Panasonic Toyota Racing' ''Autocourse 2004–2005'' pp.66–67 Hazleton Publishing {{ISBN|1-903135-35-4}}</ref>

====Industrial espionage====
2004 also saw Toyota being accused of [[industrial espionage]] in the case of stolen data files from [[Scuderia Ferrari|Ferrari]]. This following a season where many Formula One fans commented on similarities of the [[Toyota TF104]] to the [[Ferrari F2003-GA]]. The district attorney of [[Cologne]], where Toyota F1 is based, led the investigation saying "It's an immense amount of material. We’d need over 10 thousand pages to print everything," in relation to the number of documents generated in the design of any modern F1 car. Toyota refused to send the data back to Italy because they did not want Ferrari to take advantage of their own data, which had been mixed in with Ferrari's.<ref>[http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/formulaone/14217/ ""Toyota Used Stolen Ferrari Data," Says Attorney"] [[Speed Channel]]. Retrieved 3 December 2004</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4618260.stm "Ex-Toyota men face spying charges"] [[BBC Sport]]. Retrieved 16 January 2006</ref>