Quote:
Originally Posted by TF110
Why would Toyota leave if they win?
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The feeling I get is, maybe because of the amount Toyota spent in F1 for basically no results (Toyota was in F1? When?) Toyota mangement has been pretty unsure aboutthe P1 program all along ... sort of, "If you can do it for cheap, go ahead, but you had better get results and it had better not get expensive."
I feel like Toyota very begrudgingly sprung for a third car because they saw how close the team came in 2016 ... but I also get the feeling that they want the PR coup and then cut the program and spend the money telling everyone they are Le Mans winners.
Who cares if they tie or beat Mazda? I don't feel like Toyota has a strong racing culture at the top, the way Audi or Porsche might ... so they don't care about what Mazda might have won, or what Honda might win ... if they can call themselves "Le Mans winners" they have gotten as much out of the program as it can give them.
We think like racers, where a win is a win and moire wins are better, per se. At Toyota, if they thought that way, they;'d have had a three-car program from 2015. I think that there is tension on the Toyota board, with the "racers" being given a little cash, but the bean counters just dying for a chance to cut it out of the budget ... and I bet as soon as they win Le Mans, the cars go into museums, only seen again in ads.
After all, they are spending that $75 million or $100 million or whatever per year, whether they build new cars or not. New cars would have come on top of that.
Also, I will bet Porsche won't stint on its development budget, which means Toyota has to up the ante each year whether the regs demand it or not ...
Particularly since Porsche knows, it only has to beat Toyota to win Le Mans, and the championship. And Porsche Does have a culture of competition ... Porsche is completely willing to build a whole new factory complex to enter P1, while Toyota was willing to rehire its F1 engineers.
If Toyota wins Le Mans this year, Porsche will up the ante ... will Toyota Racing be able to convince the board of directors to open its wallets?