clever iris Jul 26, 2024, 2:39 PM

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In this thread, i will be recapping the first part of the season and updating you about the races still to come.

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Toyota set to return to the F1 grid with a rather surprising engine partnership

Toyota Gazoo Racing have today announced their plan to enter the grid for the 2024 season. And will do so using rivals-turned-friends engine manufacturer Honda RBPT.

We understand the agreement is a 2 year deal, before possibly parting ways to design its own Toyota engine after the engine freeze.

More information to follow

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Toyota announce driver line-up

Today, following the announcement of Toyota's return to Formula One. The Japanese brand have announced their 2 drivers who will take on the challenge. After rumours surrounded that the team were looking for at least 1 japanese drivers, all eyes were on HRC talents Yuki Tsunoda and Ayuma Iwasa. But with both drivers firmly under contract at VCARB, the TGR team allegedly moved on in their search of drivers.

Following Toyota Gazoo Racing's statement just mere minutes ago. We have now learned that TGR have managed to free Liam Lawson from his role of reserve driver at Red Bull Racing. He will be joining Toyota as #1 driver.

Toyota have also announced the signing of Le-Mans winner Ryo Hirakawa. The current TGR WEC driver will make the switch to Formula 1, leaving the World Endurance Championship. It is understood that Toyota have paid McLaren an undisclosed fee to snatch him, as he was previously McLaren's reserve driver.

Like Hirakawa, the former Honda-protégé Lawson also had ties with Toyota in the past. Driving in the Toyota Racing Series up untill 2020

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Toyota unveil team identity and car livery

Following the signing of both Liam Lawson and Ryu Hirakawa, Toyota today have released their badge, driver suits and livery. Taking inspiration from the past and mixing it with a new fresh futureproof look.

Toyota Gazoo Racing welcomes new sponsors

As seen on the car and overalls, TGR have signed multiple sponsors to the team. Headed by title sponsor ABAOS, a major tech company.
Alongside ABAOS, Toyota have signed crypto company Aptro, fuel supplier Serpent, tech-giant Arcoar, manufacturer Henrik Engineering and clothing brand Bad Turtle.

clever iris Jul 26, 2024, 8:54 PM

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Toyota's first race back in Formula 1

The season opener at the Bahrain International circuit marked Toyota's return to the pinnacle of motorsport after a 15 year absence.

With drivers Liam Lawson and Ryo Hirakawa ready to show they belong in F1, things got off to a quick start with the TGR outlet driving the most laps of any team during the practice sessions.

Come qualifying, it was time for the real deal. Remarkably, both drivers managed to get out of Q1. Beating both Alpine's, the 2 Williams drivers, the Sauber duo and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg. Q3 however seemed to be a stretch, with Lawson clocking the 13th fastest time, half a second away from Q3. Impressively, Hirakawa managed to match his teammate's pace, being less then a tenth behind and qualifying in P15.

Race day was nothing to write home about for both drivers. Liam Lawson collided with Kevin Magnussen early in the race, ending both of their races. For Hirakawa things didn't go too well earlier. He showed he lacked the pace in the race and fell 4 places from his grid position to finish his first F1 race in an unremarkable P19

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Round 2: Jeddah

F1 headed to Saudi Arabia for the second race of the season. On a hot track, still without any upgrades expectations were low for the Japanese team.

What else was low? Their qualifying positions unfortunately. Both drivers stranded in Q1. With Lawson outqualifying Hirakawa again. Respectively exiting the session in P17 and P19

Race day was much better for the boys, showcasing some much better race pace. Lawson climbed back up to P13, fighting with Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon till the very last corner. For Hirakawa, things were a little less eventfull. He benefitted from a good start, overtaking both Logan Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen. Frankly, he didnt do anything after that. Finishing in P18 with Lawson maintaining P13

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F1 Goes Down Under!

For the third race of the year, the Formula One circus headed to Melbourne, Australia. With some upgrades fitted to the car, Toyota had reasons to be optimistic.

Backing up the optimism was the fact that Liam Lawson clocked the absolute fastest time in FP1. Some might say that was a glory run, but lets not spoil the party.

When quali came around, that optimism was met with reality, as other teams had upgraded too. Lawson's first run put him P9, along the likes of Lewis Hamilton. Hirakawa also confidentally made it out of Q1. As Q2 rolled around, the TGR team was confronted with another reality check. With Lawson spinning on his banker lap. His second and final lap was only good enough for P15. With Hirakawa outqualifying him for the first time in P13

The race was said to be a drive in mixed conditions, and turned out to be a race with mixed feelings as well. Starting in the dry on fresh softs, hopes were set on Lawson and Hirakawa. First, Hirakawa pursuaded his career in lawnmowing on the first lap by going horrendously wide and cutting all the grass in the Victorian state, picking up some serious floor damage in the moment. Then, just mere laps later, Lawson spun into the barrier, or so we thought. Upon seeing the incident replay it turend out Magnussen spun into the oncoming Lawson, collecting him. Miraculously, Liam managed to continue the race. Both cars managed to limp home in a further uneventfull race. Finishing P18 (Lawson) and P20 (Hirakawa)

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Toyota unveils special livery for the Japanese and Chinese GP

Celebrating heritage, Toyota's vision for the liveries ran in the Japanese and Chinese GP

The livery, heavily inspired by the Year of the Dragon featured a fire-spitting dragon along the side of the car, while maintaining the classic red, white and black making the Toyota livery so iconic. Tech sponsor ABAOS also gave away its prominent sponsor placing on the rear wing. Allowing Toyota to celebrate the GR partnership. The suits were also changed to give them a retro look.

clever iris Jul 26, 2024, 9:35 PM

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Round 4 and 5: Heritage and History

Suzuka

First, on we went towards the Suzuka circuit. After a rather uneventful couple of practice sessions, things suddenly took a turn.

In a rain-packed qualifying, both Toyota drivers went out on track at exactly the right moment, both getting the best grip the track had to offer. Meaning they advanced to Q2 with both cars in the top 10. And those cars? They wouldn't leave the top 10 again. Repeating the grip trick in Q2 meant both boys advanced to Q3 for the very first time. The Q3 session was much more straight-forward. With no extra grip to abuse, Lawson qualified P8, followed by Hirakawa in P9. Both outqualifying Fernando Alonso in the top 10 shoot-out

Race day rolled around and both cars took a very surprising 20 place grid drop (otherwise known as a very annoying glitch). Meaning they started P21 and 22. After an uneventfull start to proceedings, The VCARB of Yuki Tsunoda crashed hard into the wall, bringing out the safety car. Under the SC, both cars regrouped and were ready to go again. After the pitstops, Hirakawa was told to hold up the way faster Alex Albon in order for Lawson to drive off into the distance. The plan worked, however Lawson soon over 50 seconds behind P11. Finishing the race in an impressive, but not redeeming P12. Hirakawa only managed P16 after he was sacrificed to help Lawson.

Shanghai

On friday, it was time for the first friday quali of the season. Both cars made it out of Q1 safely. However a mistake in Q2 meant P16 was all for Hirakawa. Lawson, on the other hand, impressively made it into Q3 by beating the 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton by less then a tenth. Unfortunately, despite driving his personal fastest lap in the shootout, he qualified only P10 in Q3.

The sprint rolled around and the pace suddenly disappeared. Hirakawa dropped to P19 while saving tires, and could later not recover any positions. Lawson made contact with the wall after a lock-up, and limped home in P17.

On to race day. Despite a good start for Lawson, rocketing up to P7, he later fell back down again. Driving around in P10 for the most part of the race, but ultimately conceding to Russel on fresh softs to finish in P11. Despite the disappointment, it is Toyota's highest finishing position of the year so far. Hirakawa had the most boring of races ever, it was so boring that the narrator forgot what happened to him. He maintained his P16.

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Round 6: Welcome to Miami

A warm welcome it sure was, back in the regular livery, both cars finished P6 and P7 in a rain-interrupted FP1 in the humid and wet Miami Gardens.

Qualifying was up next. Again, both cars safely made it to Q2, but then the rain came around. Hirakawa couldn't replicate his pace in the wet and exited in P15. Lawson performed great once again. Making it out of Q3 for the third time in a row.

Sprint quali was less eventfull. In a very straight-forward session, Q2 was reached by both once again. Hirakawa couldn't manage any better than P15 and Lawson came just short in P11.

Then came the sprint, which must be one of the most boring motorraces ever to be held on the surface of the earth. Precisely nothing happened and practically everyone retained their SQ position.

Around came the race, and it absolutely compensated the Sprint. Rain caused out Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo in a lap 1 crash, before Pierre Gasly also exited the race after a spin. Neither accident bringing out the safety car. The rain de-intensified and everyone got into the rythm. Hirakawa climbed up to P12, just behind Lawson who had maintained P11. Late into the race, it all looked like another case of just not close enough. That was untill a late Sergio Perez Crash brought out an immediate red flag. Both cars were put on a new set of soft tires. Hirakawa overtook Lawson into turn 1 to take P11. However, just a couple corners later, Lance Stroll's Aston Martin suffered a mechanical failure. Promoting Ryo Hirakawa into P10, Lawson fought him to the line, coming home in P11.
Hirakawa's P10 secured Toyota Gazoo Racing its first point of the season, and Toyota's first point since the Abu Dhabi GP in 2009.

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Toyota encounters major financial problems

Following the highs of TGR's first points finish in Miami, spirits were high in the factory.

Those spirits however, were about to be crushed. After the financial report came out regarding the engineering and building of Toyota's TGR01-1, team- and boardmembers were shocked to see an astonishing 89.1 million dollars was spend. Primarily putting TGR in deep financial debts. Insult to injury is the fact that all of that spending counts towards the cost cap. Essentially meaning that, after 6 races into the season, the team only has 30% of its budget left to spend under the cost cap regulations.

Following the news, Toyota Gazoo Racing have issued a statement stating they won't be able to develop and research any new part for the rest of the season and the first quarter of next year. Starting development of new parts in May 2025, a whole year further.

It is unknown at the time if TGR will be able to survive such a huge financial knockout, let alone be competitive in 2024 and 2025.

This is a developing story, more information will follow

slender frost Jul 26, 2024, 10:10 PM

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Keep it up mate this is brilliant!

clever iris Jul 26, 2024, 10:17 PM

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Round 7: Imolaaaarghhhh

With the news about TGR's financial situation still hanging over their head, the team are hoping to bounce back in Imola

After uneventful practice, qualifying was upon us. Both cars safely made it to Q2 yet again. In Q2 however, they showed the ceiling of the car. Lawson missing out on Q3 by 3 tenths in P11, with Ricciardo splitting Hirakawa who qualified P13.

On to the main event. Both cars lost a place at the start but managed to stick around the points. Magnussen conveniently placed his Haas into the wall, causing a safety car. Hirakawa, who started on softs made his stop right on queue. As soon as the SC came in, Hirakawa climbed up to P9, with Lawson keeping P11. However, just as Hirakawa started to create a gap to the car behind, terror struck. The Japanese driver spinned into the gravel and had to wait to rejoin because of the approaching traffic. Hirakawa rejoined in P18 and stayed there for the rest of the race. Lawson, who had maintained P11 the entire race made a mistake in the last lap. Dropping him from P11 to P13.

To make things even worse. Further investigation of Hirakawa's car was done and severe damage to the floor was identified. Giving the TGR team a hefty repair bill in challenging financial times.

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Monaco bound, new retro look?

Yet another special livery for the TGR team.

The Monaco GP is a race weekend full of heritage and traditions. It is also a race where we have seen multiple special retro liveries in years gone by. Obviously, Toyota had to jump on this narrative, maybe distracting admirers from their financial situation?

Contrary to the standard livery, more solid colors were used and the design was simplified to fit the throwback narrative. Title sponsor ABAOS also agreed to change its appearance color on the car to blue for this weekend, barring an iconic reference to the blue Panasonic sponsorship in the past. Along with the cars, the suits were also overhauled and simplified. Referencing to the 2009 driver suits in which the original Toyota team drove its last GP

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Round 8: Glitz, glammer and heartbreak

In the one-off classic livery, things got off to a quiet start in practice, where some rain slightly interrupted the running.

Qualifying was up next and unsurprisingly, both cars made it out of Q1. In Q2 however, the track slowed down, catching out multiple drivers including Mercedes' George Russel, who got knocked out in P14, behind both TGR drivers. Both had the pace to make it into Q3 but both also made slight mistakes. Leaving them in P12 (Lawson) and P13 (Hirakawa)

The race was up next. Both TGR drivers were quick off the line and jumped to P9 and P10 after 5 laps. That is exactly where they would stay up untill lap 51, where Russel, who came from behind, overtook both Lawson and Hirakawa. Then, just 10 laps later. Perez retired after making heavy contact with the tire barrier at St. Devote. This incident brought out the red flag. Hirakawa however did not have any fresh softs remaining. And so the decision was made to sacrifice Hirakawa once again to salvage points. All was going incredibly well, with Hirakawa managing to keep all challengers behind and Lawson continuing to show great pace. But then, absolute disaster struck the young kiwi. Lawson got caught out, locked up and steered his car into the tire wall. Initially rejoining in P9, but falling to P10 quickly before falling outside of the points as a result of wing damage. He did hold off his teammate to finish P11. But missed out on some very well deserved points for the strategy team.

I was incredibly miserable and pissed after this happened, so i dont have any pictures from this race. Instead, here's Liam Lawson with Lightning McQueen

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Round 9: Oh Canadaaaa

After the heartbreak of Monte-Carlo, another french-speaking city was up next. All three free practice sessions were heavily interrupted by rain, not gathering much data.

In qualifying, after making it into Q2 safely, Hirakawa only managed P16. Liam Lawson got the most out of a tricky setup to put his Toyota in P11. Ahead of Stroll and Hamilton, who got massively caught out by changing conditions.

Into turn 1 they all went. It was a steady start from Lawson, maintaining his P11. And so he did for a very long time. Untill Ricciardo's VCARB started to misbehave mechanically, costing Ricciardo a ton of lap time and ultimately getting him outside of the points. With Lawson running in P10, nerves went up in the TGR garage. All while Lawson was fighting to secure a points finish, Hirakawa was suddenly flying. Making his way up the grid from P16 to P11, beating a struggling Hamilton. With the laps ticking away and a healthy gap to P11, only Lawson could deny himself some very deserved points. But he did not put a foot wrong and came home in a very redeeming P10. Earning the Japanese outlet another points finish despite not developing the car since Miami.

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Paul Aron joins the Toyota Gazoo Racing Academy.

In a surprise move, F2 championship leader Paul Aron has announced he is signing with Toyota to be adapted into their Affiliate program.

Paul Aron, who only last year got released by Mercedes in wake of poor performance, has found form in the Formula 2 championship. Currently leading by 24 points, the Estonian driver has seemed unstoppable on multiple occassions.

The signing of Paul Aron has come as a massive surprise to many, as f1 insiders believe the 20 year old driver was in talks with multiple top tier academies such as the Red Bull Young Driver Program and the Ferrari Driver Academy. The signing is especially controversial as Aron is reportedly on a multi-million deal with the Japanese team, who reported major financial issues just 2 months ago.

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Round 10: Paella, Paul, Points?

Following the signing of Paul Aron, it was quickly announced he would be driving the TGR01-1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, substituting in FP1 for Liam Lawson. Remarkably, Aron clocked the 6th fastest time in FP1, half a second faster than Ryo Hirakawa. Has the 29 year old Japanese driver got to worry?

With Lawson back in the car for qualifying, both cars safely made it through to Q2. Mercedes driver George Russel, who has been disappointing in qualifying this year, dropped another below-par performance. Qualifying in P16. Both TGR drivers looked to have the pace to make it to Q3. But a small mistake from Hirakawa cost him a tenth. It turned out to be the difference from P12 to P10, as he dropped out of the session. Liam Lawson, who made it into Q3 yet again, outqualified Daniel Ricciardo to secure P9 on the grid for the race.

Multiple grid drops meant Lawson would remain P9, with Hirakawa joining him in P10. However, Hirakawa had used up most of his fresh tires already, and was forced to do a 3 stop. He plowed down the order before settling in P16. Lawson wasn't doing much better, as he had lost 4 positions, driving in P13. Lawson then couldn't make up for the lost positions and finished 13th. Hirakawa managed to get on the pace on his last stint, reclaiming 2 positions to finish P14. Another points opportunity down the drain.

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Alpine reserve driver joins Toyota Gazoo Racing

Formula 3 Vice-Champion and Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan leaves the Alpine F1 Team with immediate effect to join Paul Aron in the affiliate pool at Toyota. After not being satisfied with the amount of drive time Alpine could give him, Jack Doohan has decided to part ways with the Alpine team that has been backing him since early 2022. According to multiple sources at Alpine, the contract has been terminated by mutual consent. Meaning that Toyota does not have to buy out the contract and financially support one of its fierce competitors. Similar to the Paul Aron situation, it is understood Doohan is also on a multi-million deal with TGR. Adding even more fuel to the speculative fire on its financial situation

It is expected Jack Doohan will make his first outing with the team during FP1 at the Austrian GP this weekend.

clever iris Jul 26, 2024, 11:44 PM

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Round 11: Spielberg Blockbuster

Following expectations that Jack Doohan would drive the TGR-01-1 at the Austrian GP, he was indeed behind the wheel of the Toyota for FP1, subbing in for Ryo Hirakawa. Doohan produced 24 laps during the session. Even setting a faster lap than full-time driver Liam Lawson. Albeit less than half a tenth quicker.

The decision to run the young Australian in FP1 sparked quite some controversy on social media, infuriating Toyota- and Hirakawa fans as this meant Hirakawa's first session of the weekend would be Q1, not giving him any tracktime to prepare. Despite the lack of track time, Hirakawa was able to match Lawson's pace througout the session. After advancing to Q2 without any problems, Lawson qualified in P11, with Hirakawa just 0.050 behind in P12. A promising position for both drivers to start from on raceday.

Sprint quali was up next. The TGR drivers matched eachother in SQ1, but remarkably it was Hirakawa making the difference in SQ2. Lawson could only manage P14, with Hirakawa in P11. The gap? over 3 tenths.

On went the sprint. Tsunoda immediately spinned into the barriers at turn 1. This incident however, did not send the safety car out on track. After a brief VSC stoppage, the sprint got back underway, but not for long. Bottas and his Sauber found the wall on lap 10. He managed to continue, but severely held up Hirakawa, who had gone behind Lawson at this point. Then, just 5 laps from the end of the race, Hirakawa and Russel collided while scrapping over P12. Russel only had minor damage to the wing, but the incident ended Hirakawa's race immediately. The incident even brought out the red flag. During this red flag, Toyota fitted soft tires to Lawson's car. He restarted the race in P9, behind Stroll. Lance however wasn't able to push the softs to the max. This invited Lawson to stay with him and save ERS. On the last lap, with enough battery saved. Lawson deployed it all and overtook Stroll. Giving Toyota Gazoo Racing their first points finish in a sprint

Race day came around. Things got off to a quiet start, with botH drivers maintaining position. On lap 15, Ricciardo and Sargeant collided, bringing out the safety car right around Hirakawa's pit window. This benefitted him hugely and he was even up to P6 momentarily. As things started to settle, The boys were back in P9 and P10 when Carlos Sainz encountered a catastrophic mechanical failure, forcing him to retire. This promoted the Toyota drivers to P8 and P9. 10 laps from the end of the race, Hamilton, who suffered from a poor quali result, crashed behind Hirakawa. This incident brought out the safety car, in which Lance Stroll made a perfect late pitstop, coming out right behind both Toyota's. The Aston Martin breezed past Hirakawa and Lawson. Who came home to no less impressive P9 and P10. Toyota's first double points finish in a weekend filled with controversy.

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Round 12: Silverstone Shananigans

In an unusually quiet race week, Paul Aron was behind the wheel of the TGR-01-1 again, completing 27 laps and gathering a lot of data substituting for Ryu Hirakawa in FP1. Ahead of qualifying, a grid drop was announced for Liam Lawson who took a new engine and gearbox.

In qualifying, the lack of practice time may have got to Hirakawa's head, as he was miles of the pace and exited Q1 in P20, his joint lowest qualifying position of the season. Meanwhile, Lawson was trying to make the most of his time on track, despite the grid penalty. He made it into Q2 and did it again to get into Q3. Once in Q3 the team put on an old set of softs and ran one lap. Obviously leaving him P10, which would become P21 on race day.

Race day was here and both drivers were off to a lightning fast start. Lawson made up 4 positions in lap 1. Meanwhile Hirakawa was in P15 by the end of lap 6. After the first round of pitstops. Lawson was in P15 with Hirakawa in P16. The race went on as intended and after the last round of pitstops, Lawson was P12 and Hirakawa was in P14. Lawson managed to use his pace to finish an impressive P11, while Hirakawa managed to hold off Alex Albon to claim P14. Two impressive recovery drives.

forgot picture so here is toyota wec car at silverstone

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Formula 3 duo join the Toyota Gazoo Racing Academy

PREMA drivers Gabriele Mini and Arvid Lindblad have been announced as affiliate drivers for Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Lindblad and Mini are the first drivers in the program to arrive from Formula 3. They will be joining the likes of F2 drivers Jack Doohan and Paul Aron as well as Formula Regional drivers Manfred Wolff and Rui Nguyen.

Arvid Lindblad is currently leading the FIA Formula 3 championship. Having picked up 8 podiums including 2 feature race wins and an incredible 6 sprint wins. He leaves the Red Bull Junior Team in what could be seen as a somewhat surprising move. Toyota hope Lindblad will make the step up to Formula 2 next season, and Lindblad is looking likely to do so.

Gabriele Mini, who is currently P7 in the standings after a very disappointing start of the season, hopes to regain his confidence with the Toyota backing, after he was let go by Alpine just weeks ago.

Sources within the team have confirmed that Mini and Lindblad will not be taking part in any F1 practice sessions this year.

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Round 13 and 14: Under the radar

Budapest

After multiple complaints from Camp Hirakawa to TGR, no substitute driver took part in practice in Budapest.

This seemed to have boosted Hirakawa, as he stormed out of the gates in qualifying, beating Lawson in Q1 before beating him again in Q2. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to progress into Q3, with Hirakawa qualifying P12 and Lawson in P14. Splitting the two Toyota's was George Russel, after yet another disappointing performance in qualifying.

In the race, nothing remarkable happened in the first 20 laps. On lap 24, Magnussen realised he hadn't crashed for like 1 race so planted his Haas into the tire barrier. This brought out the VSC, during which we pitted both cars. After all pitstops were complete, Lawson overtook Hirakawa and the TGR drivers finished in P12 and P13.

Spa-Francorchamps

Lawson and Hirakawa were along multiple drivers hindered by rain in the practice sessions. Meaning they did not do a lot of laps and left a lot of data to be desired.

During qualifying, both cars just made it throught to Q2. But there wasn't a lot of pace left in that car and so they exited the session in Q2 with Hirakawa 13th and Lawson 14th.

On raceday, Magnussen decided to just crash on lap 1 this time, however taking Alex Albon with him on this occasion. The incident brought out a safety car which Hirakawa used to make a tire gamble. The gamble later exploded in his face, dropping him back to P16. After a great second stint Hirakawa was up to P14 again. On his final stint he managed to overtake George Russel to finish P13. With Lawson finishing in P12 after not experiencing a single exciting or nerve-racking moment in his entire race.

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Summer break means silly season

With the conclusion of the Hungarian and Belgian GP, we now enter the summer break. A period well known for its developing rumours and so-called silly season. During the off-season. The most interesting rumours will be shared on here.

Confirmed: Toyota Gazoo Racing sign high-profile youngster Kimi Antonelli

In a move that has left fellow competitors shocked, the Toyota Gazoo Racing Academy have announced the signing of just 17 years old F2 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Antonelli, who has been part of the Mercedes Junior Team since late 2018, when he was just 12 years old, informed team principal Toto Wolff of his desire to leave the Mercedes team just weeks before the announcement. Antonelli is currently only 6th place in the F2 standings. With teammate Oliver Bearman lighting up the standings. Antonelli, however, has proven to be very fast in private tests with Mercedes and now Toyota.

The news of Antonelli joining Toyota comes after TGR have signed multiple F2 and F3 talent already. Just like Doohan and Aron, Antonelli is rumoured to be on a multi-million 'extremely lucrative' deal with the Japanese team. The multi-million contracts of Doohan, Aron and Antonelli have caused huge upset and confusion, seeing as the financial situation of the team is not healthy at all according to leaked documents and earlier public statements from Toyota.

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Rumour mill: Toyota board unhappy with sporting director

According to German news platform AmuS, the higher-ups at Toyota Gazoo Racing are extremely unhappy with sporting director Matthew Gaze.

Matthew Gaze, who joined TGR at the start of the year from Rodin Motorsports in F2, has been in charge of overseeing sporting decisions. This includes daily operations and the management of the pit crew and pit stops.

The dissatisfaction of the board mainly lies with the lengths of the pit stops during races and the fatigue within the pit crew. The board blames Gaze for a lack of management and discipline towards the pitcrew.

With Gaze's contract already expiring at the end of this year, insiders believe he is set to leave the team at the end of the season.
Rumour has it Toyota are currently speaking with McLaren's sporting director Randeep Singh, as well as Andy Stevenson from Aston Martin and Julian Rouse from Alpine.

Could we see yet another big name join the Toyota team, or do their financial situation put off any potential signings? Subscribe to the thread to see the story develop.

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drifting nexus Jul 27, 2024, 12:51 AM

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clever iris # Rumour mill: Toyota board unhappy with sporting director According to German ...

pitstops have been awful, definitely needs an improvement! hoping TGR hires the right person!

clever iris Jul 27, 2024, 11:26 AM

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Toyota sign yet another young driver to their academy

Today, amidst rumours about the future of their sporting director and financial situation, Toyota Gazoo Racing have signed yet another affiliate driver to join their academy.

Former Formula 3 champion Dennis Hauger has signed with the Japanese team on a 3-year deal. He is currently competing in Formula 2 with MP Motorsport.

After a strong start to the season with a podium in Bahrain, Hauger hasn't had the season that he would've hoped for. Disappointing performances got him released by the Red Bull Junior Team after Budapest.

Dennis Hauger is the fourth driver joining the academy from an F2 background, becoming the 8th driver in the affiliate programme.

clever iris Jul 27, 2024, 11:45 AM

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A deepdive into Toyota's financial woe's

Just a couple of months ago, Toyota Gazoo Racing issued a statement following reports of major financial problems within the team. It was allged that Toyota only had 30% of the budget cap remaining. Toyota then confirmed they wouldn't be able to develop and research car parts until after the first quarter of 2025. With the teams future even potentially at risk, insiders suggested that the team would be looking at all kind of ways to save money.

Those reports then soon proved false, as Toyota splashed the cash to fill their young driver pool for the TGR academy. Paul Aron, Jack Doohan, Kimi Antonelli and just recently Dennis Hauger are all reportedly on multi-million deals. Antonelli is even alledged to earn more than full-time driver Ryu Hirakawa.

After the spending of all that money, many were curious how Toyota could manage to spend all this money despite being in severe financial problems.

Today, following extensive investigations and after talking to many insiders within the sport, Italian paper La Gazetta dello Sport have reported the following shocking conclusions:

Toyota are reportedly over 70 million dollars in debt, as costs for the base car entry into formula 1 rose way higher than anticipated.
Japanese millionaire Yappakono Yapyanto loaned the team 25 million dollar interest-free to build its academy and upgrade its factory.
As per the summer break, Toyota Gazoo Racing only has roughly 12 million dollars left to spend under the cost cap regulations.
An inside source within the TGR team believes that the team are going to break the cost cap by Qatar.

La Gazetta dello Sport also stated that the future of the team is still very much in doubt, with the board dissapointed in the avid spending of the team principal.

Please take into account that the conclusions made by La Gazetta dello Sport are merely just rumours and have not been confirmed by any official source. We have contacted Toyota Gazoo Racing, they declined to comment on their financial situation but state they are dissappointed in LA Gazetta disrupting the team dynamic.

clever iris Jul 27, 2024, 12:02 PM

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Hirakawa's future in doubt?

Its not just Toyota's future that's in doubt. According to German newspaper Bild, talks about Hirakawa's future have reached the factory in Cologne. Multiple influential figures working out of the team's base in Cologne, Germany have expressed their disappointment in the performance and attitude of Japanese driver Ryu Hirakawa.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise, following a strong run of qualifying form, outqualifying his teammate in the last two races. Admittingly, his race pace has proven to be a bit of a disappointment, often falling back down the order on sunday.

Hirakawa signed a 2 year deal at the start of the 2024 season, but might not see the end of that contract.

A source within the team told us that Kimi Antonelli and Jack Doohan are currently being evaluated during private test sessions, with Jack Doohan set to be behind the wheel on at least 2 more occassions during an f1 weekend this year.

Outside of the team's driver pool, Yuki Tsunoda is alledgedly also being evaluated, but it is thought his salary needs are too high for Toyota.

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haughty gate Jul 27, 2024, 1:37 PM

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Tsunoda in the car 🙏

slender tartan Jul 27, 2024, 2:40 PM

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Japanese team signing Japanese driver would make sense, but so would Alonso

clever iris Jul 27, 2024, 5:39 PM

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Round 15: Purple rain

The summer break is officially over, F1 returns to Zandvoort for round 15 of the championship.

With multiple rumours emerging throughout the summer break about Toyota's finances, Hirakawa's seat and sporting director Matthew Gaze's position. Toyota Gazoo Racing were eager to put speculation behind them and show their skills on track. Practice was wet, but uneventfull. Hirakawa went wide, nearly going into the barriers at Turn 3, but other than that, it was business as usual for TGR. Further analysis however exposed damage to Hirakawa's underfloor and tires.

On to qualifying they went, but with Hirakawa already burning through his tire allocation in practice, he only had 3 sets of fresh softs left to use. Both Lawson and Hirakawa put in storming laps to go through to Q2 with only one run. In Q2, the decision was made to not run Hirakawa on fresh softs. His used softs were only good enough for P13. Lawson, meanwhile, put in a great lap on a new set of softs to get through to Q3. Lawson too didn't have a lot of fresh softs left, and so the team decided to use used tires in his only Q3 run. The lap was only good enough for P10, still an impressive performance from the driver born in New-Zealand.

Race day came around and the forecast was very wet. The weather radar didn't lie and so we were in for a race start on intermediate tires. Lawson overtook Stroll and Ricciardo on the first lap, getting him up to P8. Hirakawa maintained P13 and was told to save tires early on. Lawson then managed to stick with Hamilton for over 15 laps, before ultimately conceding the time to him. Ricciardo and Tsunoda than got struck by a severe ERS issue, limiting their pace. This allowed Lawson to create a 4 second gap. Logan Sargeant than crashed, bringing out a virtual safety car. Despite multiple drivers running low on grip, no one decided to pit. When the time came around to box for new Inters, Lawson and Hirakawa managed to go longer on the first set of inters before boxing. After the pitstop, Lawson suffered a position loss after Piastri, who came from P20, fought his way back to the front. Hirakawa, meanwhile, overtook a suffering Tsunoda, showcasing great pace after a dissappointing first stint. Laps went by and Lawson steadily increased his gap behind to 8 seconds. A whole lot of nothing then happened, before the track dried up again. Many drivers were struggling with degrading inters on a practically slick track, but not the Toyota's, who had kept the tires in a beautiful window.
Both cars pitted on the same lap, with the pit crew delivering 2 good stops. Lawson was then told to push the tires to hold off the faster Aston Martin of Stroll.
He managed to do so, finishing almost 6 seconds ahead of Stroll in P9. Hirakawa finished in a no-mans land P12.

2 more points for Toyota Gazoo Racing on a very wet weekend in Zandvoort!

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Toyota Gazoo Racing F1 - Updates

clever iris Jul 27, 2024, 6:50 PM

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Round 16: The Italian Stallion

Expectations were low going into round 16 of the championship at Monza, with the TGR car not being a particularly quick car on the straights and vulnerable to DRS, points were not expected.

In practice, both Lawson and Hirakawa gathered important data and set up their cars very well.

During qualifying, both cars made it out of Q1, with shock exits Sergio Perez and George Russell not progressing in the session. In Q2, Hirakawa beat Lawson after the first laps, but during the final run of Q2, Hirakawa was just over a tenth behind Lawson, ending up in P13 with Lawson in P11, missing out on Q3 by half a tenth.

After qualifying went somewhat better than expected, hopes were up again at Toyota. Hirakawa and Lawson were the only 2 drivers attempting a 2-stop, with the rest of the field exexcuting a medium-hard or hard-medium strategy. Lawson, who started on the soft tire, rocketed through the field in the opening laps, before inevitably falling back slightly. Hirakawa, who had started on the mediums fell back to P15 with no pace whatsoever. Lawson then boxed for mediums and his pace looked to have disappeared. He fell back to P14 before settling into his stint. After multiple cars boxed, he found his rhytm in P11. After his second pitstop onto the soft tire, Lawson fell to P14 again. But with 15 laps remaining, points were suddenly possible. Hirakawa meanwhile struggled to make his new softs work, before catastrophically locking up twice on 1 lap, absolutely ruining his fresh set of soft tires. The team boxed him again, this time onto used softs. Unfortunately, time was too little too late for Hirakawa to salvage anything from the race. He finished the race in P17, 4 places below his qualifying position. Lawson on the other hand managed to slide into P11. On the penultimate lap of the Grand Prix, ERS and DRS aided Lawson in flying past Tsunoda and driving off into the distance.
Earning Toyota Gazoo Racing a very unexpected point.

slender tartan Jul 27, 2024, 7:46 PM

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You should sign Alonso next year given his position within TGR's endurance racing history

shadow maple Jul 27, 2024, 7:50 PM

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But money

clever iris Jul 27, 2024, 8:39 PM

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Toyota newsflash ahead of the Azerbaijan GP

In this news update we'll share the latest news on TGR ahead of this weekend's GP

Matthew Gaze to depart Toyota Gazoo Racing F1 at the end of the year

After rumours spread about the Toyota board being unhappy with Gaze's mentality and performance, Toyota have now announced Gaze will be leaving the team. The current sporting director of the F1 program wil remain with Toyota Gazoo but venture out to the WEC championship instead, serving as the deputy managing director under Rob Leupen.

In a publication shared earlier this season, the names of Randeep Singh, Andy Stevenson and Julian Rouse were all named as possible replacements. However, Randeep Singh will not be joining Toyota as he expressed his loyalty to McLaren, agreeing on a new deal that will see him with the team untill 2027.

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Hirakawa given ultimatum

According to motorsport.com, Ryu Hirakawa has been informed by the board he needs to step up his performances and replicate Lawson's performance by scoring points and outqualifying his teammate at least twice before the Qatar GP. Failure to achieve this goal will most likely result in Hirakawa being replaced.

Hirakawa has only outqualified his teammate on 3 occassions so far this season, and scored points on just 2 occassions.
The Japanese driver, who scored TGR's first points in F1 in Miami this year will need to produce a miracle in order to retain his seat.

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Toyota open negatiations in search of potential driver replacement

Multiple sources within F1 confirm that Toyota Gazoo Racing have already opened talks with multiple drivers, including former TGR WEC driver Fernando Alonso. The 43 year old double world champion has reportedly turned down 2 offers already, not meeting his wage demands by a long way. It is therefore unlikely that the Spaniard will replace Hirakawa in 2025.

Toyota have also talked to Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, the current VCARB driver is rumoured to have accepted a concept offer from TGR before getting a better offer from another f1 team being Aston Martin. It is now believed Yuki Tsunoda will join Aston Martin in 2025, turning down Toyota Gazoo Racing.

TGR are also still evaluating their young driver pool, with Australian driver Jack Doohan believed to drive the TGR01-1 at Baku. Might that be his opportunity to show he is ready for the seat?

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clever iris Jul 27, 2024, 11:12 PM

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Round 17: Legendary Lawson

We head to round 17 for the Azerbaijan GP around the Baku City Circuit, Jack Doohan drove the TGR01-1 again in FP1, fuelling speculation that Ryo Hirakawa is leaving the team. Doohan ran for 25 laps, more than any other driver did in FP1. It was business as usual in FP2 and FP3, with both drivers gathering plenty of data.

In qualifying, both made it out of Q1 easily. In Q2 however, Lawson showed his class, dunking half a second on his teammate. This put Liam Lawson through to Q3 yet again. With Hirakawa exiting the session in P12. The Japanese driver has only made Q3 once, at his home grand prix in Japan. As Lawson was about to finish his banker lap in Q3, Lewis Hamilton found the barriers at turn 1, bringing out the red flag and ruining Lawson's lap. When the session resumed, Liam went out on fresh softs, but the stoppage in running meant the track had worsen, with the times being 1,5 seconds slower than in Q2. Liam couldn't hook up the tires meaning he'd qualify in P10

Before the race, penalty's were announced for Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez, thus meaning the TGR duo would start in P7 and P9.

It was a wet start in Baku, with Lawson dropping to P8 behind Ricciardo and Hirakawa losing 2 positions, dropping him to P11. The race settled, until Ryu Hirakawa made contact with Alex Albon, giving them both damage to the front wing. Just a couple laps later, Hirakawa locked up while fighting with Gasly. He slid straight into the barrier, bouncing back onto the track, ending his race and bringing out the safety car. Then, just as the track started to reach its crossover point, Lawson found pace. This gave him a nice window to box into. With 30 laps left, Lawson was forced to box to hards. This tire change cost him quite some time, eventually dropping him back to P10. Then, right as things looked all over for TGR's point hopes, Carlos Sainz had a monumental crash in the last corner, bringing out the safety car right as Lawson was approaching the pit lane. The team boxed Lawson onto his only new set of softs and joined the safety car queue in P7.
Once we went green, Alonso quickly passed him for P7. Lawson however managed to build a gap to George Russel, allowing him to cruise home in a mighty P8.
Thats 4 more points for Lawson and Toyota Gazoo Racing in a weekend where Hirakawa has disappointed yet again.

clever iris Jul 28, 2024, 1:02 AM

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Round 18: Succes in Singapore?

Practice was so uneventful, this time we jump straight into quali. After not looking like having a lot of pace, expectations were once again fairly low. Despite both drivers confidently making it through to Q2, that session showed the ceiling of the car. With Hirakawa only managing to qualify P14 and Lawson impressively just missing out on yet another Q3 appearance.

The race got underway on a surprisingly wet track, both drivers fell back slightly but then settled into a good rhythm. The first VSC was caused after Hulkenberg retired following a hit of the barriers. Then, his teammate Kevin Magnussen went off with Esteban Ocon, ending KMAG's race. Soon after, Pierre Gasly crashed his Alpine, bringing out the VSC. Hirakawa pitted for fresh inters while everyone else stayed out. He dropped down to P15 in the progress. Just as the drivers were settling into the race again, Yuki Tsunoda brought out yet another VSC after heavy contact with the barriers. This time, Liam Lawson tried his luck and boxed onto new inters. This turned out to be the money move as the Kiwi driver had loads of grip and made up his lost positions quickly. The last stoppage would be caused by Valtteri Bottas, bringing out the safety car and making Hirakawa roll the dice to pit onto another fresh set. Hirakawa fell to P14 before succumbing o the much faster car of Daniel Ricciardo, ending his points hope. Liam Lawson managed to hold on for yet another points finish, his fourth consecutive Top 10 result.

clever iris Jul 28, 2024, 1:23 AM

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Round 19: Madness in Murica

On friday morning, Liam Lawson called in sick with Ryo Hirakawa already set to miss FP1. This meant TGR would place two affiliate drivers in the car for the only practice session of the weekend. Both drivers didn't run a lot of laps as components were being changed on the cars mid-session after a technical issue was identified. The technical issue would mean both cars took a 20 place grid drop.

During sprint quali, both cars got out of Q1 easily, Hirakawa then couldn't find the grip to put in a good lap. Ending in P16. Lawson, on the other hand, showed a lot of pace yet again, making his way into Q3 confidently. In Q3, he beat Ricciardo on his one and only run. However, due to some weird bug in the game, penalties carry over to both the sprint and the GP. Meaning they'd also start last in the sprint

The sprint itselves was a rather uneventful session, apart from Tsunoda retiring from the race with a mechanical problem. Lawson and Hirakawa recovered to P13 and P14, where they would stay for the entirity of the session, finishing P13 and P14 just behind eachother.

On sunday, both cars chose an interesting strategy, stopping 3 times in the race. Lawson would have a great start, gaining 6 places within the first 10 laps. Hirakawa on the other hand only gained 3 positions and roamed around in P19. Both drivers then made their pitstops before settling in again. They repeated the same trick for the next stint however Hirakawa locked up, killing his tires. As we boxed him for fresh softs, Lawson was making inroads and was up to P14. His lasts stint was about to begin when Zhou Guanyu spun to bring out a brief VSC. TGR boxed him under this stoppage and he rejoined in P14 again. The VSC ended and Hirakawa immediately locked up into the path of innocent Esteban Ocon. The Japanese driver returned to the track without a front wing and with major damage to the chassis. He was told to box to retire on the next lap. Then, out of nowhere, Ricciardo locked up while trying to unlap himself from the Red Bull of Verstappen. He plowed into the back of the soon to be 4 time world champion, ending both of their races. The Safety car was immediately brought out on track. Suddenyl, points were a possibility with Tsunoda ahead on older and harder tires. Unfortunately, the FIA did not allow drivers to unlap themselves, not granting Lawson an opportunity to secure a point. He ended the race in P11.

Post race update

After the GP, Toyota announced that Hirakawa's suspension and chassis were beyond repair. To make matters worse, the technical issue reported on friday forced Toyota to buy 2 new components. These factors combined mean Toyota Gazoo Racing do not have any budget left to spend under the cost cap regulation. They will have to revert to the a-spec front wing on Hirakawa's car. It is believed TGR will also run the second iteration of the floor on Hirakawa's car, after the newest underfloor broke earlier. Any b or higher spec part on both cars that fail will most likely have to be replaced by the a-spec parts, killing Toyota's realistic hopes of more points this season.

(not a lot of pictures from this race cuz i was livid with hirakawa)

clever iris Jul 28, 2024, 11:41 AM

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Round 20: The final nail in the coffin

Ahead of practice 1, it was announced that Kimi Antonelli would be behind the wheel of Lawson's TGR01-1 in FP1. On Antonelli's first setup run, he made unfortunate contact with the tire wall entering the stadium section, forcing the team to revert to an older spec front wing. Once the young Italian got over his mistake he was rapid. Logging 31 laps and with his fastest time 2 tenths faster than Hirakawa's

In quali, both cars struggled in Q1, after poor first runs, the second runs needed to be better. Lawson's was, booking his place into Q2. Dissapointingly, Hirakawa's attempt was only good enough for P17. In Q2, Lawson put in a great banker lap placing him 9th provisionally. By the time he went out for his second run, he was provisionally through into Q3. After improvements in sectors 1 and 2, traffic then hindered him in S3, eliminating him from the qualifying session in P14.

Hirakawa, who had received a 3-place grid drop for one of many incidents in the Austin GP lined up P16 due to engine penalties for multiple front runners. With Lawson lining up in P13. The start was uneventful. Hirakawa then dropped the pace, falling back to P19. That would become P21 after the first pitstops, with Lawson maintaining P13. It was clear the car didn't have a lot of pace. During his second stint, Hirakawa locked up and ruined the tires, forcing him to conserve the rubber. This meant he lost approximately 15 seconds on his delta. On lap 41, Lawson lapped the struggling Hirakawa, marking a new low for the Japanese driver. As the race progressed, multiple drivers reported ERS and gearbox issues, limiting their pace. Lawson then showed some great pace, progressing up to P11. He then found himself in no mans land, where he'd finish the race in P11. Hirakawa finished the race in P21, after even getting lapped by the damaged car of Logan Sargeant.

Hirakawa's P21 finish means he can now no longer match his rumoured ultimatum, surely this will be the end of the road for Hirakawa's formula 1 journey?

still aurora Jul 28, 2024, 12:00 PM

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clever iris # Toyota sign yet another young driver to their academy Today, amidst rumours a...

Yes, the Fury of the Fjords to Toyota! 😄
Hawk Man!

clever iris Jul 28, 2024, 7:03 PM

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Round 21 and 22: Up a dead end

Interlagos

After no notable things happening in practice, the team jumped straight into sprint quali. Q2 was reached comfortably, before traffic ruined both Lawson and Hirakawa's first run in Q2. The second runs weren't much better, with Lawson only managing P13 and Hirakawa bringing the part-stripped TGR to P14 on the grid.

Both cars ran the race on a medium tire, just like the rest of the field. Lawson maintained his position and fought Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda in the early laps of the race. Hirakawa had no confidence at all and dropped to P15, before making contact with Sargeant a few laps later, miraculously coming away with only minor damage to the front wing. This damage however prevented Hirakawa from climbing up the order. Eventuall, Hirakawa dropped to P17 before both Saubers overtook him, making Hirakawa finish the race in P19. Lawson held off the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, but couldn't catch back up to the VCARB's. He finished where he started, in P13.

Grand Prix Qualifying went about the same as the sprint quali. Both cars made it out of Q1, but eventually weren't quite fast enough to progress further. Lawson outqualified Hirakawa for the 18th time this season, exiting the session in P14 with Hirakawa in P16.

In the race, both drivers planned a strategy not including soft tires, stoppping twice for either hards or mediums. The plan itselves seemed pretty handy, but the execution from one particular driver turned out to be ppor. Obviously that driver was Ryu Hirakawa. In the opening laps of the race, Hirakawa locked up hugely, practically killing his tires and throwing the planned strategy overboard. He pitted for a new set of hards, with the plan to run mediums and softs in later stints. Meanwhile, Lawson would maintain position, fending off Nico Hulkenberg and Albon to eventually climb to P12. His race ran as expected but he was not fast enough at all to get into the points. He ran and finished a lonely race in P12, not encountering any real racing action after his first stint. Hirakawa, who had fallen to P19 after his last stint than cooked the tires, losing him P19 to Zhou just one corner from the finish line. Ending a forgettable race in P12 and P20.

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Las Vegas

Kimi Antonelli was once again placed in Hirakawa's TGR01-1 in FP1, gathering Antonelli even more experience with the Toyota car. Antonelli drove 23 laps in FP1, before the struggling Japanese driver took over again in FP2.

In qualifying, Hirakawa had an absolute shocker of a lap, He exited Q1 with a lap 7 tenths slower than Lawson's Q1 lap, leaving him 19th for the race on Sunday. Lawson managed to outqualify a further 3 drivers in Q2, qualifying in P13 with a near a-spec car, after multiple newer parts had broken prior to the race weekend.

In the race, both Lawson and Hirakawa lost 2 positions on the opening lap. Those positions would soon be regained as Leclerc and Russel came together at turn 1, ending their respectable races. The safety car got out on track, during which, both drivers did their mandatory pit stop. Lawson maintained his position up until the end of the race. Hirakawa gained a place soon after his pitstop, but later had to give up P17 to Pierre Gasly. This meant Hirakawa would finish P18.
An announcement on Hirakawa's future is expected soon, however no new information has been given so far.

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Gary Gannon extends TGR contract among car 2 speculations

Race engineer Gary Gannon has renewed his contract among rumours of his departure to Aston Martin and rumours about which driver he'll be coaching in 2025. With the car 2 seat still very much up for grabs, many believed Gannon would be departing towards the stability of the Aston Martin team. Instead, Gary Gannon has expressed his loyalty to the team amidst challenging times, extending his contract for 5 more years.

An announcement about who'll be driving the Toyota in 2025 is still expected to be announced before the end of the season, however, Toyota Gazoo Racing still haven't publicly announced it's intention to dismiss Ryo Hirakawa of his driving duties next year.

clever iris Jul 28, 2024, 8:14 PM

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Round 23 and 24: Its a wrap!

Lusail

Both drivers only ran a handfull of laps in practice 1 due to potential issue that had to be checked, everything turned out to be fine as they completed their practice program at the end of the session.

Sprint qualifying saw Ryu Hirakawa getting knocked out in Q1, only managing P17 and being half a second of his teammate. Lawson then managed to put his Toyota in P13, ahead of both Williams cars who had brought some last minute upgrades.

The sprint was rather uneventful, in a session without any yellow flag or mechanical DNF, Hirakawa benefitted from a good start and finished in P15, two places up from his qualifying position. Lawson had an even quieter race, running in P13 until Tsunoda's tires worsened, allowing Lawson to overtake the Japanese TGR target.

Qualifying for the race was next up. It was a much better showing from Hirakawa in Q1, this time progressing into Q2. In Q2, both cars were caught out by the speed of Albon's Williams. They ended up P14 (Lawson) and P15 (Hirakawa)

On the first lap of the race, Hirakawa fell back into the clutches of Sargeant and Hulkenberg. He managed to stay within DRS range of both but couldn't get past. On lap 11, a lapse of concentration for Hirakawa meant he locked up, collecting Sargeant and Hulkenberg in the process and thus elminating all three of them. The incident brought out the safety car. Lawson used this window to put on new medium tires and maintained P13. As the race got back underway, George Russel had a spin at turn 7, rejoining just ahead of Lawson. The Toyota driver managed to get past Russel before ultimately being repassed on the final stint. Lawson finished the race exactly where he started it, crossing the finish line in P14.

(sorry, no race pictures cuz i was busy raging at Hirakawa)

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Yas Marina

Kimi Antonelli took place behind the TGR01-1 during FP1 again, fueling further speculation about his possible outside chance at a race seat in 2025. He drove 29 laps in the heat of the Middle Eastern sun.

Qualifying came around and both cars comfortably booked their place into Q2. Reaching Q3 with this car however seemed to be too much of a stretch, qualifying in P13 with Lawson and P14 with Hirakawa, albeit with nearly 0.7 seconds between them.

On race day, both drivers started on hards, attempting to make a one-stop work. Just 10 laps into the race Kevin Magnussen figured he hadn't properly crashed in over 2 months. To balance things out he obviously had to have a shunt, bringing out the VSC. Multiple drivers pit under this stoppage, not including either Toyota, who gained places by staying out. Pitstops came around, and with Hirakawa's pitstop slightly slower he fell further behind Lawson. Running in P11 and P12 at that moment, the much faster duo of Perez and Alonso flew by on fresh rubber. Nothing happened during the last 10 laps, meaning Toyota would end their first season in F1 with P13 and P14 in Abu Dhabi

Crucially, neither team below Toyota Gazoo Racing in the standings bagged any points in the race, securing TGR P7 in the constructors and P13 and P14 in the driver standings, albeit with a large points gap between the two.

clever iris Jul 28, 2024, 9:18 PM

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Toyota Gazoo Racing confirm sacking of Ryo Hirakawa

After a dissappointing campaign with TGR for Ryo Hirakawa, Toyota Gazoo Racing today confirmed the sacking of Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa.
Hirakawa, who joined the team at the beginning of its F1 return this year after having been with McLaren as a reserve driver for over a year and driving for TGR in the World Endurance Championship for a long time, failed to impress the Toyota board after failing to match an ultimatum set by the TGR president.

This season, his teammate Liam Lawson beat him 21 to 3 in qualifying and an even more embarassing 22 - 2 in the races. Hirakawa is also reportedly responsible for over 70 million in damages, with his teammate only accompanying for 10 million in damages. This hefty repair bill later hindered Toyota in making upgrades, slowing them down throughout the season.

In the full statement, issued on the TGR website, Toyota claim they will be evaluating their options extensively and will announce Hirakawa's replacement no later than the end of january next year, just one month before the start of the pre season testing.

According to Sky F1, Andrea Kimi Antonelli is currently the most plausible options, with Jack Doohan and Dennis Hauger as possible outsiders. Sky also understands that TGR have talked to multiple drivers already on the F1 grid, but haven't been close to any agreement so far.

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still aurora Jul 28, 2024, 9:23 PM

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"We would like to thank Ryu" for nearly bankrupting the team with constant fiery wrecks😂

clever iris Jul 28, 2024, 10:13 PM

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Toyota-target Antonelli not granted superlicense

Toyota's affiliate driver and full-time race seat target Andrea Kimi Antonelli has not been granted a superlicense, the decision has been shared to the press by the FIA after earlier enquiries regarding this statement. After intensifying rumours of TGR potentially signing up the young Italian.

This now means Antonelli will not be replacing Hirakawa at Toyota Gazoo Racing, leaving him out of the heated debate for an f1 seat in 2025.

In a statement shared with the press, Toyota expressed its disappointment in the decision made by the FIA not to grant its affiliate driver a full-time superlicense, however TGR have denied the fact Antonelli would be driving full-time in that car if he was indeed granted a superlicense.

The statement from the FIA to the Associated Press was leaked just hours after the news broke, you can read it down below.

still aurora Jul 28, 2024, 10:16 PM

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Bang up job with the graphics 😄

clever iris Jul 28, 2024, 10:16 PM

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Cheers

clever iris Jul 28, 2024, 11:37 PM

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Title sponsor ABAOS to take step back

ABAOS, the current title sponsor of Toyota Gazoo Racing have pulled out of the race to be biggest sponsor in the team, with VELA, Roga and Euro Wire Exchange reportedly engaged in a bidding war to become the team's title sponsor.

ABAOS will still remain with the Toyota team, taking a less prominent position on the car.

Similar to ABAOS, Henrik Engineering have also decided to pull funding, altough they will completely leave the team alongside clothing apparel Bad Turtle.
It is currently unknown which sponsors will complete the TGR sponsor package, more information will be shared in due course.

clever iris Jul 28, 2024, 11:53 PM

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Toyota Gazoo Racing announce new sporting director

Ahead of the Azerbaijan GP last year, Toyota announced that its sporting director Matthew Gaze would be moving away from the f1 operation. Initially, Randeep Singh was thought to be the favorite to take over the reigns from Gaze, however he agreed to a lengty contract extension with McLaren.

Today, Toyota have announced the signing of sporting director Julian Rouse from Alpine. He will be joining the team on the 1st of february, ahead of the new season.

Last year, Toyota ended up P10 in the DHL Fastest Pit Stop standings, they will be hoping for improvements to their pit stop times under Julian Rouse.

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 12:20 AM

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Breaking news: Antonelli to run Superlicense safety test

In a very shocking turn of events, the FIA has confirmed that Kimi Antonelli has been cleared to do a superlicense safety test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

The test comes as a result of Toyota and Antonelli gathering evidence that he is indeed fit to drive and not a safety risk for the FIA. The evidence has been deemed admissible and so the young Italian will get a chance to prove the FIA wrong.

Multiple sources within the Toyota outlet confirm that if Antonelli does earn his superlicense after the test, he will replace Hirakawa at the earliest opportunity. We currently await official confirmation from either Antonelli or Toyota.

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 1:02 AM

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Major shake-up on the F1 grid as new season approaches

With loads of contracts expiring, the f1 grid experienced a huge shuffle. In this update we'll show you the updated rostrum

** Red Bull**

Fresh 4-time world champion Max Verstappen has remained with Red Bull, hunting a fifth WDC to become the 3th most decorative driver in the sport. Alongside him, Red Bull have chosen not to retain Sergio Perez after a disappointing campagin last year. Instead, they have signed up departing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz on a multi-year deal.

** Ferrari**

Early into the 2024 season, it was announced that 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton would join the Maranello-based team. Alongside him, Ferrari have retained Monegask driver Charles Leclerc.

McLaren

With both their drivers still on a multi-year deal, as well as a decent car, McLaren have kept Norris and Piastri in the team.

Mercedes

With Hamilton leaving Mercedes after 11 years with the Silver Arrows, they had to look for another driver to replace him. Multiple drivers held talks with the team, but in an unexpected move, the now 43 years old Fernando Alonso joins the team. George Russel was expected to stay with the Brackley-based team, but in another shock move, Mercedes have signed Yuki Tsunoda from VCARB. This signing is bad news for Toyota Gazoo Racing, as they hoped to get Tsunoda's signature as well.

Aston Martin

Disappointed with the performance of Aston Martin, Lawrence Stroll sold the racing division of Aston Martin and pulled out of Formula 1. With Fernando Alonso already leaving, Lance Stroll got kicked out by team principal Mike Krack. Aston Martin than benefited from talented drivers in poor cars, signing both Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon away from their underperforming teams.

** Visa Cash App RB**

With Tsunoda leaving to Mercedes, RB had a seat to fill. After holding talks with multiple candidates, Racing Bulls finalized negotiations and signed Nico Hulkenberg away from a struggling Haas team. Ricciardo, who had been underperforming for the entirity of last season, was let go by the team. To replace him, they brought in Japanese academy product Ayuma Iwasa. With both seats being filled by potential Hirakawa replacements, TGR grew uncomfortable in finding a fitting replacement.

Williams

With Albon out of the team and Sargeant's contract understandably not being extended, Williams were in search of 2 new drivers. Surprisingly, Zhou Guanyu, who was being let go by Sauber deemed a good fit for Williams as they brought him into the team. Alongside Zhou is Esteban Ocon, who had limited teams come in for him after he was let go by Alpine.

** Kick Sauber**

Sauber retained the impressive Valtteri Bottas, while bringing in former F2 champion Theo Pourchaire, who had been the teams development driver in 2024. Sources within the f1 industry stated that Pourchaire was another driver who also had an offer from Toyota Gazoo Racing but declined it, narrowing down their pool of drivers to choose from even further.

Alpine

With both drivers leaving the team, Alpine were in search of two new pilots. With Daniel Ricciardo out of a seat at VCARB, Alpine snatched up the Australian, making his return to the Enstone team which he left back in 2020. Alongside Ricciardo will be big name George Russel. The Brit had a very dissapointing season last year, finishing P10 in the championship. This left Mercedes no other choice than to sack him. Alpine will be taking a big risk by signing two out-of-form drivers, but if they manage to find form again, that might turn out to be very smart business.

Haas

The American team signed North-American driver Sergio Perez who was out of contract after being let go by Red Bull. Alongside him will be Lance Stroll, who still found a seat in F1 after getting fired by Mike Krack and Aston Martin. With Lance joining Haas, could we see Lawrence returning earlier than expected to back his sons team?

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 11:39 AM

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Antonelli to obtain superlicense

Today, after a planned superlicense safety test, the FIA have announced it will grant young Italian driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli a super license.

Antonelli is believed to have proven to the FIA that he is capable of driving a formula 1 car in a safe manner, not producing any more risks than other drivers would. Therefore, the FIA have dispensed Antonelli from the rule stating a driver must compete in at least 2 seasons of F3 or/and F2 to be granted a superlicense for a full-time F1 seat.

Antonelli's newly aquired superlicense means he is now eligible for Hirakawa's seat at Toyota Gazoo Racing. With many of its prior targets already settling on the grid, many believe TGR is set to announce the promotion of its development driver in due course.

Below are some images of Antonelli's superlicense test behind the wheel of the TGR01-1. These images got sent to us by track personnel and have been verified.

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clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 12:08 PM

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Bild: ''Toyota breaks cost cap''

According to German newspaper Bild, Toyota Gazoo Racing have broken the cost cap regulations in place for the 2024 season.

After reports of their dire financial situation were confirmed by Toyota in may of last year, the team announced not to be spending any more money on facility upgrades and car development and research. Their cost-cutting approach looked like it has saved them for bankruptcy, but couldn't stop the team from going over the cost cap.

Bild state that TGR went over the cost cap by between 4 and 7 million. The FIA have allegedly been lenient with the team, only issuing them a fine and not any sporting or development penalty. The fine is rumoured to be similar to the amount they overspent.

The FIA and Toyota Gazoo Racing have so far declined to comment, but an official announcement is expected next week.

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 2:03 PM

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Toyota Gazoo Racing announce Kimi Antonelli to drive for them this season

Toyota have now officially confirmed that current development driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli will pilot the TGR car alongside Liam Lawson in the 2025 season. However, there is a catch.

Due to a clause in his PREMA contract stating the driver must inform the squad of a possible F1 departure at least 2 months in advance before being allowed to leave. Sources close to the young Italian confirm that he told the PREMA team of his departure just one week after his superlicense test with Toyota and the FIA. Toyota Gazoo Racing will not buy out his contract. This means Antonelli can't drive for the TGR team during the Bahrain and Saud-Arabian GP.

In a statement shared on the team's website, Toyota express its disappointment about the contractual situation, but state to be very happy to announce Antonelli as full-time f1 driver for the 2025 season.

While writing up this article, Toyota announced that last year's driver Ryo Hirakawa would be subbing in for Antonelli at both the Bahrain and Saudi-Arabian GP. In allowing Hirakawa to get behind the wheel for 2 more weekends, the team and the Japanese driver have agreed to then officially part ways in mutual consent. Thus ensuring that Toyota Gazoo Racing will not have to buy out Hirakawa's contract to get rid of him.

dense hare Jul 29, 2024, 2:06 PM

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slender frost Keep it up mate this is brilliant!

I love these reports. Keep it up and GO GO GO!

rain bluff Jul 29, 2024, 2:26 PM

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love these

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 2:46 PM

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TGR announce new title sponsor

After the withdrawal of team sponsor ABAOS from the title sponsor position, Toyota Gazoo Racing entered negotiations with numerous partners and companies. Today, after careful consideration, Toyota Gazoo Racing announced financial service firm Euro Wire Exchange as title sponsor for the 2025 season.

Euro Wire Exchange, who will be visible on the car most prominently, isn't the only new sponsor welcomed to the team. Tech and entertainment company Lumiura have also joined the team, with Henrik Engineering ending its partnership after just one year. Japanese clothing brand Bad Turtle have also withdrawn from the team as fellow Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa will be released. TGR's fuel supplier Serpent will remain with the team, as well as Arcoar, Aptro and ABAOS.

The announcement below features Euro Wire Exhange's logo placed on a rear wing, could we be looking at the rear of the 2025 challenger, set tp be unveiled one week from now?

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 6:43 PM

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Toyota Gazoo racing unveil 2025 challenger.

Toyota Gazoo Racing have unveiled their livery today at a private event at their centre of operations in Cologne, Germany.

The paint job on the TGR car is quite different to last years car, but maintains its sporty and recognizable Toyota racing look. This year, the white body has become black, with the iconic red featuring on the side profile, halo and front wing. The new livery also sees the arrival of team sponsors Euro Wire Exchange and Lumiura, both enjoying prominent spaces on the car. Most notable is the addition of the GR logo on the rear wing. After Toyota flirted with the GR wing placement on both special liveries last year, the GR logo now has a permanent spot on the rear wing.

Along with the car livery, Toyota Gazoo Racing also unveiled their new driver suits. In line with the car, the suits also features more black, with the white logos completing the palette.

The TGR01-2, as the 2025 challenger will be called will be in action for the first time during Pre-Season Testing later this month.

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still aurora Jul 29, 2024, 6:46 PM

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I miss Henrik, funniest sponsor name ever 😂

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 6:46 PM

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They are about as broke as us so they went bankrupt

still aurora Jul 29, 2024, 6:47 PM

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Henrik is a pretty common male first name in Denmark, especially with 50-70 year olds 😄

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 9:08 PM

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Pre Season Testing report

All three days of pre season testing have now been completed, the Toyota team, with Liam Lawson and Kimi Antonelli ran the most laps of the entire test. The Toyota pairing completed a whopping 456 laps during the entirety of the test. The laps per team can be found below this post.

With the FOM hiding information about lap times and classifications, a lot of factors are still unclear for the press and the fans.

When speaking to technical chief Jody Egginton, he said that the team was satisfied with the milage they got during the sessions. When asked what to expect from this season, Egginton managed expectations. He told us that the team would be able to develop again, albeit not at the same pace of the competitors due to their financial state, thus placing them on the back foot slightly.

Talking to multiple f1 journalists who were present at the test, we can conclude that the Toyota looks like an allrounder car in the lower midfield, we'll wait and see wether that observation is right and how TGR will develop the car this year.

still aurora Jul 29, 2024, 9:10 PM

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Has any one heard any rumours about TGR's open seat?

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 9:12 PM

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still aurora Has any one heard any rumours about TGR's open seat?

Just a couple #1266404383982227507 message

still aurora Jul 29, 2024, 9:14 PM

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Damn, Kimi got the OK :/
Was rooting for the Hawk Man, but Kimi is an amazing talent too, excited for season 2 😄

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 9:56 PM

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Round 1: Bahrain International Circuit

Feb 27 - Mar 1

In practice, newly hired driver Kimi Antonelli got into his soon-to-be full time seat to drive the TGR01-2 together with Liam Lawson. Departing driver Ryo Hirakawa got back into the car for FP2 and 3.

In qualifying, Hirakawa proved the Toyota board right, as he qualified plum last on the grid, 9 tenths slower than Lawson, who progressed into Q2 in P10. In the second part of qualifying, Lawson put his TGR car only P15 on his first run. His improvement on the second run wasn't quite good enough for Q3, qualifying in P12, ahead of George Russel in the Alpine by only 0.09 seconds. Close margains!

On sunday, both drivers went for a two-stop, starting on the mediums. On this slightly slower race tire, Lawson fell back into P14. Hirakawa couldn't possibly fall back even further as he had put his TGR a staggering P22 in quali. Once the soft tires degraded, both drivers gained multiple places. Lawson was up to P11 by the time he put on the soft tire. Hirakawa was in P14 before he made his pitstop and fell back to P19 after exiting the pits. On the soft tires, both drivers lapped similar to eachother, but Lawson managed to lengthen his stint, allowing him to make his final stop and box onto the soft tires. With Hirakaw's tires degrading quickly in the second stint, he was not able to box for softs and pitted for mediums a couple laps earlier. Lawson managed to get past Albon's Aston Martin 10 laps from the end of the race while Hirakawa overtook 4 cars with fast-degrading tires. Hirakawa was in P14 on the final lap, but locked up into turn 7, losing him a place to Ayuma Iwasa. Liam Lawson couldn't hold off Alexander Albon, who came back at him with much fresher tires. The race ended with Lawson in P11 and Hirakawa in P15

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 10:22 PM

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Round 2: Wave goodbye

Mar 6 - Mar 8

FP1 marked the last time Antonelli would drive the Toyota Gazoo Racing car as development driver, as the team said its much-needed goodbye to Ryu Hirakawa. Some good data was gathered in the remaining practice sessions, with Lawson feeling confident about the remainder of the weekend.

His confidence was justified as both cars made it into Q2 (Yes, even Hirakawa) without too much stress. In Q2, Hirakawa could only manage P14 on his first run, with Lawson P12 after his lap on the used tires. On the second run, Ryu Hirakawa couldn't improve his lap despite no traffic around hi. Lawson did manage to improve his time, jumping to P11 on the flag. This meant he wouldn't progress into Q3, albeit only 1 tenth short of eliminating the Mercedes of Fernando Alonso.

With the pace clearly there for Liam Lawson, he was fired up ahead of the race. The same couldn't be said for Hirakawa, who, despite getting 2 extra races into F1 didn't look like he'd really enjoyed it. Liam had a great start, jumping into P10 before the braking zone of turn 1 was even reached. Hirakawa meanwhile fell back to P16 after being overtaken by Hulkenberg and Perez. Both drivers made their only pitstop on lap 23. They then had to preserve the tires in order to make a one-stop work. Lawson managed to save tires while maintaining a decent pace, Hirakawa unfortunately couldn't replicate this, falling back to P19. That then became P17 as Guanyu Zhou and Fernando Alonso came together at the final corner, bringing out the safety car. Those on a 1-stop chose to stay out, while everyone else boxed for fresh rubber. 5 laps from the end, Nico Hulkenberg attempted a late lunge on Lawson. The move failed and the VCARB driver suffered major front wing damage. On the last lap, Esteban Ocon had creeped up to Lawson on fresh rubber. The New-Zealand born driver held off the Frenchman with some incredible defensive driving, crossing the finish line in P10, with Ocon just 5 tenths behind. The Japanese driver Ryu Hirakawa ended his final race for the team and probably in Formula 1 in last place of the drivers still running, finishing P20.

After the race, Hirakawa ran into the Toyota hospitality unit, said his goodbyes and raced out of the paddock using his scooter, not even attending the team debrief. It was the last we saw from him in the F1 world, while we await his response to questions asked by multiple press agencies.

clever iris Jul 29, 2024, 11:18 PM

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Ryo Hirakawa on F1 exit: ''I was not treated fairly''

March 16th

In an open-hearted interview with Auto Motor und Sport Germany, Hirakawa talked about his F1 career with TGR, his below-par performances and his rage after the Saud-Arabian GP, his last in Formula One.

In the interview, which took place in his apartment in Cologne just a couple kilometers away from the TGR factory, Hirakawa stated that, however his F1 career was short-lived, he enjoyed every weekend behind the wheel of his Toyota. He then went on to say that his below-par performances were however not only his fault, as he believes the team prioritized Liam Lawson every weekend, resulting in Hirakawa losing confidence. The few upgraded parts Toyota ran across the season all went too Lawson first, with Hirakawa only receiving the upgrades weeks later, if at all.

He then revealed he had driven the final 8 races of his 2024 season with old, outdated parts. Some parts even dating back to February of 2024. This caused him to fail the ultimatum the board gave him. The Japanese driver added that there was simply no way to meet the ultimatum with the parts he was given. He also told AMuS he expressed his disappointment with the team multiple times, but without the board acknowledging his claims.

The long interview also adressed Hirakawa's instant departure from the paddock after the Saudi-Arabian GP, even missing the scheduled briefing and the goodbye ceremony. Hirakawa said that he got frustrated with the team after comments were made on the radio mocking the Japanese driver, who struggled with tirewear in his final F1 race. This caused Hirakawa to be very upset. He said his goodbyes to the hospitality and catering team before dashing off into the distance, jumping on a plane just two hours after the race had finished. At home, he came to his senses, said an emotional Ryo Hirakawa. He rode his bike to the factory where he said a heartfelt goodbye to the 'few people who still believed' in him.

To wrap up the interview, Hirakawa made a dig at Toyota Gazoo Racing president Koji Sato, stating he hoped his replacement Kimi Antonelli would be given a fair chance and warning Sato not to ruin another promising career.

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clever iris Jul 30, 2024, 12:21 PM

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Round 3: Antonelli's F1 debut

Mar 21 - Mar 23

F1 headed to Melbourne for round 3 of the FIA Formula 1 season, this weekend marked the first competitive sessions for young Italian driver Kimi Antonelli, making his debut with Toyota Gazoo Racing. In practice, loads of data were gathered by Lawson and Antonelli, both keeping it on track.

In qualifying, both drivers confidently made it to Q2. However, an operational error by the team cost Antonelli his chance to improve his position even further. His best run was on used tires, only managing P16. Liam Lawson nearly made it into Q3, but George Russel pushed him outside of the top 10 at the last second. TGR would line up 16th and 11th for the Australian GP

On sunday, both cars started on the soft tire, despite the tire advantage, Lawson fell back to P13 after being overtaken by Alonso in the Mercedes and Ricciardo in the Alpine. Antonelli meanwhile battled with Pourchaire, eventually overtaking the Frenchman. As both cars pitted for medium tires, Lawson experienced a pit stop issue, dropping him right into the clutches of his rookie teammate. As the pair were free to fight, the two battled for over 10 laps before Antonelli ultimately had to concede the position. Lawson and Antonelli made their final pitstop with 13 laps to go. They were up into P12 and P13 as they re-entered the race, with Antonelli managing to stay with his teammate. Then a crash by Nico Hulkenberg brought out the VSC. Perez and Ricciardo stopped under the VSC and came out just behind the TGR pair. As both Ricciardo and Perez had much newer rubber, they initially breezed past the Toyota drivers. But impressively, Lawson managed to hang onto the DRS untill the end of the race. In this small DRS train, nobody was able to make a move. Lawson came home in P14 with Antonelli just behind him in P15.

coral spindle Jul 30, 2024, 12:22 PM

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Damn thats crazy. Love your commitment

clever iris Jul 30, 2024, 12:22 PM

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Thanks, appreciate it.

clever iris Jul 30, 2024, 12:53 PM

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Round 4: Fortune cookie

Apr 4 - Apr 6

The Japanese GP will always be a special occasion for the Toyota Gazoo Racing team, as it's the teams home race. During FP1, rain impacted running, with Lawson only running 15 laps in the wet and not even bothering to do laps when the track dried up. Antonelli did go out on the drying track, running an additional 15 laps on a set of hard tires. He then turned op his engine settings for a quick run in front of a packed friday home crowd. The lap put him P7 at the end of FP1, however the classification was obviously not representative for the car performance. The rest of practice went as expected, gathering good data for the team.

In qualifying, both cars made it through into Q2 with relative ease. The rain would then come out for Q2, with the TGR team going out on track as soon as possible in what looked to be the best conditions the session would have to offer. However, before both cars could finish their lap, Albon crashed his Aston Martin hard into the wall at turn 14. The red flag was brought out and all cars headed to pit lane. When the session resumed, conditions had worsened by a lot. As a result, no one went out on track untill the very last moment. Lawson and Antonelli both managed to start their laps before the checkered flag, but a whopping 6 drivers failed to reach the flag in time. This meant the Toyota's would progress into Q3 for the first time this season. The Q3 appearance for Lawson and Antonelli also marked the FIRST time both cars progressed to Q3. With the slower Haas drivers and Hulkenberg's VCARB all progressing, P6 and P7 were within reach. However, with monsoon rain hitting the track for the start of Q3, no one went out. The rain eased off and TGR sent out their cars with 4 minutes remaining. This turned out to be an operational error as the track continued to improve. Antonelli placed his TGR in P4 and Lawson put his car in P5. But with an improving track, Hamilton, Gasly, Perez and Hulkenberg all managed to beat the time set by the Toyota pairing. They still outqualified the Haas of Lance Stroll meaning Antonelli would line up P8 in just his second F1 race, with Lawson in P9.

Before the race, lots of rain hit the track. But with both drivers already blitzing through their wet-weather allocation in practice and qalifying, the team had no more new intermediates left. The start was decent, both drivers overtook Hulkenberg and Perez with relative ease. As the out-of position cars of Norris, Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc and Albon all found a way through the field, the Toyota pairing fell back to P10 and P11. Antonelli extended his gap to Lawson to 2 seconds before the field boxed to another set of intermediates. After the pitstops, The Mercedes of Yuki Tsunoda found a way by, dropping Lawson out of the points. Antonelli then ran wide, allowing Lawson to creep up within a second. The pressure of Lawson behind got to the young Italian, as he locked up into the grass. Lawson slid past him. The track dried up and both cars pitted for new softs. Antonelli, who fell behind after the lock-up, found himself in a battle with Pourchaire. The Sauber driver then turned into Antonelli, damaging the front wing and the chassis. With this damage, Antonelli fell all the way back to P19. Lawson meanwhile extended the gap behind to 35 seconds, but it looked to be all for nothing as he was in P11, with the next car 25 seconds up the road. But then, 5 laps from the end of the race, the third-placed Charles Leclerc crashed into the barrier. The incident brought out the virtual safety car, but crucially meant Lawson would inherit P10 and finish in the points. As the VSC ended with 1 lap to go, we witnessed a thrilling battle by Norris and Verstappen, with Norris coming across the line first, just 2 tenths ahead of Verstappen. Lawson brought home a point with Antonelli finishing P19 after the contact.

clever iris Jul 30, 2024, 1:58 PM

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TGR Academy roster update

April 15th

With the new season now firmly underway, lets update you on changes to the driver roster at Toyota's affiliate programme.

Dennis Hauger

The Norwegian driver was in contention for the TGR seat for 2025, but ultimately missed out to Antonelli. He has now started his 4th F2 season and his third with Dutch team MP Motorsport. After 3 weekends, the Hawk is yet to score a point in the championship as MP Motorsport has really struggled to setup their car.

** Paul Aron**

The young Estonian has had slightly better luck, the driver, who made 2 FP1 appearances for the TGR outfit in 2024 currently sits P7 in the F2 championship but is yet to climb onto the podium. He scored points in the feature races in Bahrain and Jeddah, as well as a P4 in the sprint at Sakhir.

** Jack Doohan**

Doohan, who was the most likely candidate to replace Hirakawa when the news first emerged before the Azerbaijan GP in 2024, is currently TGR's official reserve driver and primary simulator driver. Along his F1 reserve duties, he has also accepted reserve duties for the TGR organisation's WEC team.

** Gabriele Mini**

Italian racing driver Gabriele Mini was initially set out to do another season in F3 with PREMA racing, before Kimi Antonelli's planned departure from PREMA initiated a shuffle on the F2 grid. PREMA signed Tim Tramnitz away from MP Motorsport, who then signed another driver from another team and so on. The seat shuffle promoted Gabriele Mini up to F2 with PHM AIX Racing. The newcomer failed to deliver points in Australia, but showed signs of brilliance througout.

** Leonardo Fornaroli**

After finishing eleventh in his second F3 campaign, Fornaroli was disappointed with the Trident team, switching to ART GP in F3 for the 2025 season. So far he hasn't been able to finish in the points as the Italian driver struggled to find his feet in the first 2 rounds of the championship.

** Arvid Lindblad **

Following his heart-breaking season finale las year, where he lost the F3 title after a very poor weekend, Lindblad has not been promoted to F2 and will continue to race with PREMA in Formula 3. Missing out on the F3 title looks to have taken his toll on the Britis driver, only finishing in the top 20 once. He is currently without a point in the championship he dominated for so long last year. Can he pick himself back up for the rest of the season

** Manfred Wolf **

Wolff, who raced in Formula Regional by Alpine last year, coming P5 in the championship has signed with Hitech Pulse-Eight to compete in the F3 championship in 2025. The 20 year old qualified a surprising P5 at the season opener in Bahrain. In the sprint he claimed P6 while he maintained P5 in the race to come away with 15 points after round 1. He couldn't replicate his performance in Melbourne, finishing P12 in both races.

** Rui Nguyen **

Like Wolff, Nguyen competed in FRECA last year, where he finished the championship in P7. This was enough for PREMA Racing to pick him up for their F3 team. Nguyen however showed less pace, not picking up any points in F3 yet.

clever iris Jul 30, 2024, 4:00 PM

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Taylor Barnard joins Toyota Gazoo Racing Academy

Toyota Gazoo Racing have announced the signing of F3 driver Taylor Barnard to their academy. The british driver is currently in his third season in Formula 3 after joining Trident from PHM AIX Racing at the start of this year. Barnard climbed on the podium at Bahrain after finishing P2 in the sprint. In Melbourne, he took P2 in the feature race after starting 4th.

Taylor Barnard has declined a lucrative offer from McLaren, after already driving for the organisations Formula E team in Monaco and Berlin in 2025. In a statement made by Barnard he states that he believes the perspective for his personal growth at TGR is better than at McLaren.

Toyota Gazoo Racing expressed its satisfaction with a statement on their website, stating Barnard is one of the more promising drivers in FIA Formula 3 and believe the 20 year old has a birght future ahead of himself.

wispy mason Jul 30, 2024, 5:00 PM

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Save some young drivers for the rest of us!

clever iris Jul 30, 2024, 5:41 PM

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TGR academy just has that mythical pull, everyone wants to join

wispy mason Jul 30, 2024, 6:00 PM

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Why not take Vesti? 😉

still aurora Jul 30, 2024, 6:01 PM

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Damn, TGR is hoarding youth like it's cold medicine and flu season is starting 😂

clever iris Jul 30, 2024, 11:50 PM

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Round 5: Contrasting emotions

In FP1, Kimi Antonelli ran wide over a curb while on his setup run. The Italian driver was able to finish his data-gathering before being called back into the pits. Assessing and replacing the damaged floor meant Antonelli wouldn't go out on track again. Apart from this incident, the rest of practice went according to plan.

Qualifying for the sprint was up next, with both drivers progressing to Q2 with relative ease. On the first run in Q2, Antonelli put his Toyota far ahead of teammate Liam Lawson. The Italian rookie sat on the cusp of Q3 in P10. On the second run, neither Lawson or Antonelli could improve their lap, but Fernando Alonso put his Mercedes in P10, pushing Antonelli just outside the top 10. The session saw Antonelli exit in P11, with Lawson an unusual 4 tenths behind his teammate in P16.

Then came the sprint race, with all 20 drivers electing to start on the medium tires. Unfortunately, Antonelli was shoved wide by Hulkenberg in turn 3, dropping him down to P17. Lawson meanwhile fought with the Haas duo, as well as Russel, Bottas and Hulkenberg over P12. Eventually, Lawson overtook all of them and drove off outside of DRS. Even managing to catch Ocon in P11. Antonelli showed great fighting spirit, climbing his way back up towards the pack Lawson discarded laps earlier. After a couple laps of battling, Antonelli used all the available overtaking aid to get by the group of cars. On the last lap of the race, he also overtook Esteban Ocon, who was in P11. With Lawson unable to chase after the much faster Mercedes of Fernando Alonso, he finished in P10 with Antonelli 5 seconds behind him in P11 after an amazing recovery drive.

Qualifying for the Grand Prix then came around, with both drivers easily booking their spot in Q2. In the second part of qualifying, Lawson showed his class, booking himself a spot in Q3 and knocking out the superior car of Fernando Alonso in the process. Antonelli wasn't able to reproduce his sprint qualifying antics, this time exiting Q2 in P14.

On race day, both cars started on the soft tires when an early incident between Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Mclaren's Oscar Piastri brought out the red flag, eliminating both drivers from the race in the process. This meant Lawson would restart the race in P8, after maintaining his grid position on the first few laps. The red flag however did mean that TGR would have to drastically change the strategy with both drivers. Lawson and Antonelli both had 2 sets of new softs left, so the team chose to run hards after the red flag before changing to softs twice. On the restart, both drivers fell back a couple of places respectively. The tires looked to be coming back to them quite quickly, so that shouldn't have been a problem. But then, during a crucial phase of the race, Antonelli spun. This lost him 5 places, dropping him to P17. To make the strategy work, Antonelli had to save tires, which made him fall behind 2 more cars, now driving in P19. Crucially, both drivers managed to survive the tire management in this stint. They pitted onto softs and found lots of pace. Lawson gapped those behind him with Antonelli moving back up to P15. The second stint would include a slightly slow pitstop for Lawson, dropping him to P10 behind Valtteri Bottas. The Fin was however on hard tires and as such, Lawson was able to pass him with relative ease. Antonelli was up to P13 by this point. Just as Bottas started to gain on Lawson, who was pushing his soft tires quite considerably, Alex Albon suffered an engine blowout. This brought out the safety car with just 3 laps to go. The race would finish under the safety car, securing Lawson P8 with Antonelli P12. Lawson's 8th place finish was Toyota's highest ever finishing position since returning to the sport. With credits also being handed to Antonelli after his superb recovery after his spin. Without that spin, who knows what could have been possible. Definitely a missed opportunity.

clever iris Jul 31, 2024, 1:56 AM

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Antonelli using older parts than his teammate?

April 23th

Yesterday, Racingnews365 published an article stating that Kimi Antonelli is using older parts than his teammate Liam Lawson. The motorsport news outlet understands that Antonelli is using the TGR-01-2 CH1 chassis, with Lawson running the CH2 chassis. It is believed that a second chassis is being built and will be ready for Antonelli no earlier than the Imola GP in May.

RN365 blames Toyota's financial situation as the reason for this, with the team eager to cut costs wherever they can. The fact Lawson is running an upgraded chassis while his teammate is running an outdated chassis shines light on Antonelli's recent performances. Antonelli matched Lawson on pace at the Japanese and Chinese GP, with incidents during Antonelli's race being the deciding factor in Lawson's better race finishes.

The article also states that Antonelli's manager and trainer are reportedly upset with the situation, as they believe Antonelli deserves the chassis just as much as Lawson.

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wispy mason Jul 31, 2024, 2:38 AM

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Justice for Antonelli! This is a deliberate attempt to make him look bad!

still aurora Jul 31, 2024, 7:25 AM

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This is justice, bet the money on the proven driver, Liam!

clever iris Jul 31, 2024, 4:45 PM

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Round 6: Sunshine State struggles

May 2 - May 4

F1 headed to Miami for round 6 of the championship, practice went as planned for Toyota with loads of data gathered.

The first laps in sprint quali put Antonelli all the way up in P6 with Lawson only in P16. On the second run, Antonelli maintained P6 with Lawson putting in a lap good enough for tenth, meaning both would comfortably progress. In SQ2, first laps put Lawson P9 with Antonelli P15. Antonelli then couldn't improve on his second lap, eliminating him from SQ2 in P15. Lawson got through in P9. In SQ3, Lawson put in an amazing lap securing him P7 in the sprint qualifying. Interestingly, further analysis showed Antonelli lost 6 tenths in sector 2 on both his SQ2 laps, without this deficit, he would have progressed to SQ3 as well.

The sprint got underway and Lawson fell back to P11 after the first laps. Before Haas driver Perez locked up into the path of Guanyu Zhou, bringing out the red flag. TGR elected not to put on new tires under the red flag in order to save tires for later in the weekend. The race got back underway and Lawson blitzed off the line into P10. Antonelli had a quieter race down in P13 before he made huge contact with Mercedes' Fernando Alonso. This incident brought out another red flag. With just 6 laps to go, Lawson changed to new soft tires in hopes of fighting for a point. He restarted in P10 before an electrifying start put him P8. Using all the grip his new tires had to offer, he sneaked up to the rear of Hamilton. The 7-time world champion then got caught out and Lawson overtook him. The pair battled untill the very end, with Lawson miraculously holding off the much faster Ferrari. Lawson finished the race in P7, taking away 2 unexpected points from the sprint. Spirits were quickly dampened when the damage to Antonelli's car was assessed. The crash meant Antoneli's car was almost totalled. The mechanics worked a miracle to fix up the car, finishing work only 10 minutes before the green light in Q1.

Both cars made it through to Q2, with Antonelli marginally faster in Q1. In Q2, Antonelli experienced heavy traffic on his new tire run, comprimising his lap time severely. Lawson put his Toyota in P9 before Albon put him down to P10. It was enough to progress to Q3 as Alonso only managed P14 in his Mercedes. Ahead of him was Antonelli, who couldn't improve on his second run. In Q3, Lawson only put in 1 lap on a used soft, the lap was no good, putting him P10.

In the race, the wrong strategy call from the team put both drivers on the back foot, Antonelli got all the way up to the rear of Lawson, resulting in a race-long battle but losing both drivers loads of time. Alonso made use of this battle to overtake the pair, as Bottas got past in the Sauber when the soft tires started to degrade. Lawson made his stop first with Antonelli following suit a lap later. Both drivers pitted onto mediums and were engaged in even more battling. With Toyota not eager to interfere the fight, the pair continued their battle. On the last stint on the soft tires, Antonelli overtook Lawson for good. Lawson managed to stay within DRS but couldn't overtake his rookie teammate. With nothing interesting happening elsewhere, the race finished free of incidents with Antonelli leading Lawson over the line, finishing P12 and P13. An impressive performance from Antonelli considering he's still on an older spec chassis.

wispy mason Jul 31, 2024, 4:45 PM

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Despite the team shafting Antonelli he still delivered. Good on him!

clever iris Jul 31, 2024, 4:46 PM

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He did also completely write off the car... 🤣

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Im sure he wont do that again any time soon

wispy mason Jul 31, 2024, 4:48 PM

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A minor setback 🤣

still aurora Jul 31, 2024, 4:59 PM

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This Antonelli kid might actually live up to the Kimi name, kid is speed 😮

clever iris Jul 31, 2024, 7:22 PM

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Round 7: Home hero?

May 16 - May 18

The seventh round of the FIA Formula 1 championship marked the season's first race in Europe this year. Kimi Antonelli, who was born just 40 minutes way from the Imola circuit was eager to impress on a track he drove so much. For FP1, Dennis Hauger took place behind the wheel of Lawson's TGR01-2 as the team tried to gain as much data as possible. The Imola GP also was the first race where the 18 year old driver could use his new chassis. Antonelli would however severely disappoint his team, as he found the wall in practice after just 18 laps. This is the second time in a row the Italian rookie crashes out of a session during an F1 weekend. Hauger on the other hand drove the most laps of everyone in the session, taking the flag after 36 laps driven.

In qualifying, both cars progressed into Q2. Lawson then put his TGR in P10 with Antonelli 2 tenths behind in P11. On the second run, nobody improved their time. This meant Antonelli just fell short of Q3. Lawson couldn't replicate his Q2 pace, leaving him tenth in Q3. From P10 and P11, the team had plenty to fight for on race day.

Both drivers started the race on medium tires and showed great pace, staying ahead of Alonso before eventually even driving away from the Spaniard. Then, a couple laps later Norris locked up and ran wide in turn 13, allowing both Lawson and Antonelli past and dropping Norris back down to P19. The Toyotas settled into a rhythm before making their one and only pitstop in the race. Just as both drivers had pitted, Iwasa and Ocon collided, bringing out the safety car. This allowed Norris to get back behind the TGR pair at the restart, with the much faster McLaren eventually passing them. Lawson's tires then fell of a cliff, allowing Antonelli a way by and dropping Lawson 5 seconds behind. Antonelli, who had kept his tires in a good state drove a commanding race. Eventually coming home in P10 to earn him his first points in Formula 1 on a track he so dearly admires. Lawson finished P11 and was disappointed with how he managed the tires.

still aurora Jul 31, 2024, 8:11 PM

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na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na, Hawk Man! ❤️

clever iris Jul 31, 2024, 10:00 PM

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Round 8: A mixed bag

May 23 - May 25

During FP1, both cars went out early to gather data, but after 30 minutes, the session was red flagged after a crash by Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver made huge impact with the tire wall. The damage to car and circuit where so severe that the session wouldn't be resumed. After the big impact, Sainz even missed FP2 completely.

Qualifying was up next, and both drivers were keen to perform knowing the importance of qualifying in Monaco. The Toyota drivers looked fast as they progressed to Q2. In the second part of qualifying, Lawson put his TGR in P9 with Antonelli only managing P14. The second run was much better for Antonelli, but he still exited the session, in P12. Lawson progressed to Q3 in P10. At the start of Q3, Lawson went out immediately but a crash by Lando Norris meant he had to abort his lap. On the second lap, the track had worsened and Lawson couldn't beat the much quicker cars in Q3. He would line up P10 for the race.

There was rain expected for the race at Monaco, but the race started in the dry. Lawson took a set of hard tires, hoping those tires would make it to the wet period, with Antonelli favouring the mediums. Both drivers kept their position after the first lap, and defended their place at the narrow Monaco circuit. Antonelli then made contact with the wall just before entering the tunnel. TGR insisted to keep him out on track and fix his front wing when boxing for dry tires. This lost Antonelli a lot of time, but pitting for another set of inters with the track drying up would have dropped him a lot further. Both cars boxed for dry tires, with Antonelli falling back to P19 after his front wing change. Lawson showed great pace, driving away from Alonso in the Mercedes behind him. He extended the gap to 4 seconds before crossing the line in P9 to secure 2 more points. A few laps earlier, Antonelli crashed again, spinning 180 degrees into the barriers, rear wing first. Miraculously, his car wasn't totaled but it meant he brought the car back in P15 after initially having climbed back to an impressive P13.

Despite Toyota being over the moon with Lawson's performances, especially at the Monaco GP, 2 more incidents by Antonelli during the race means TGR will have to replace even more parts, costing the team more money amidst already challenging times for the team. Hours after the race, Toyota announced that after further assesments of the damage, the chassis was deemed broken. This means Antonelli will most likely have to revert to an older chassis, after only having the new chassis for 2 races.

clever iris Aug 1, 2024, 2:22 PM

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Round 9: Canada crashes

Jun 6 - Jun 8

Ahead of the weekend, Toyota confirmed they had reverted Antonelli to an older chassis for the weekend, with a new one being ready for round 11 in Austria. Practice went as planned with both drivers setting up their cars to perfection.

In Q1, Antonelli was right on pace with Lawson despite running an older chassis, both cars made it through to Q2 easily. Antonelli's first lap in Q2 became undone after he locked up into the hairpin. Lawson put his Toytota P10 on the first run. No improvements for any driver out there in Q2 meant Lawson progressed to Q3 but Antonelli would exit the session in P16. On the first hotlap in Q3, Lawson ran wide over a kerb, damaging the floor. Changing the floor would take the mechanics far too much time, so Lawson headed out for his second lap with a damaged floor. He managed to qualify a very impressive P8, ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

Inbetween qualifying and the race, the team replaced Lawson's floor. The race was set to be held in mixed conditions, but the race start was dry. All 22 cars headed into Q1, but Antonelli got caught out by the battle behind him and hit Ocon's sidepod, damaging his front wing and giving him a 5-seocnd penalty. Lawson had to give up position to both Hamilton and Norris, who were much quicker in the race. As the rain approached, both drivers boxed for intermediate tires. Antonelli served his penalty and changed his front wing, dropping him down to P19. Lawson held on to P9 after Tsunoda fell back due to a pit stop issue. The race settled down and laps ticked away before the second stint of intermediate tires began. Both drivers pitted again for new rubber, but Antonelli then found Ocon again, this time shoving him wide, causing Ocon to spin. The incident saw Antonelli get another 5 second penalty. Lawson meanwhile showcased great pace, as he drove further away from the Mercedes duo behind him. He easily held off both to come home in P9, securing the team 2 more points. Antonelli came home a dissapointing P18, with only one car behind him in P19, being Ocon, which he punted twice in the race. The race saw Ricciardo, Zhou and Iwasa all retire from mechanical failures.

Toyota have now scored points in 6 out of 9 races so far this season, an encouraging sight considering their financial and development struggles. This is however also the third weekend in a row where Antonelli crashed or damaged the car. How long will Toyota accept this behaviour considering the fact he is costing the team a lot of money?

clever iris Aug 1, 2024, 3:15 PM

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Toyota board unhappy with Antonelli

In an article published by the BBC ahead of the Austrian GP, inside sources claim that Toyota president Koji Sato has held talks with Antonelli adressing his recent crashes. The meeting is said to have been a fierce one, with the Toyota board expressing its disappointment in the young Italian driver, even going as far as threatening his seat for the 2026 season.

Kimi Antonelli is currently in his rookie season in Formula 1. So far, he has outqualified his teammate just once, and beat him in a race twice. Recently, Antonelli got more attention for his crashes. In Suzuka, he made contact with Pourchaire, ending his meaningful race. In China, he first damaged the floor in FP1, before a lock up and a spin in the sprint and race respectively left him on the back foot. In Miami, Antonelli had a huge crash in the sprint, bringing out the red flag and totalling the car. One round later, in Imola he found the barrier in FP1, severely damaging the front wing, chassis and underfloor. In Monaco, Antonelli crashed twice in a rainy Monaco, miraculously not ending his race but ending his chance at a good result. Latst week, Antonelli was caught out in a lap 1 incident damaging his front wing, before being involved in another incident, damaging the underfloor. He also got 2 5-second penalties for his behaviour on track.

The series of incidents mean Antonelli has now been involved in a crash of some sort in 6 of his 7 race weekends in F1. The disappointment of the TGR board is very understandable, as the young driver has cost the team millions already.

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still aurora Aug 1, 2024, 3:19 PM

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"Kid has all the potential in the world, but when he's constantly damaging the car, how is going to succeed? Maybe he should have stayed in F2 another year"

clever iris Aug 1, 2024, 3:20 PM

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Or maybe that second TGR seat is just cursed

dense hare Aug 1, 2024, 3:51 PM

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still aurora "Kid has all the potential in the world, but when he's constantly damaging the c...

Almonst a Logan Sargeant's Legacy

rain bluff Aug 1, 2024, 9:47 PM

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wait till he gets poached to another team, watch them crumble

clever iris Aug 1, 2024, 10:39 PM

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Have y'all found the wishful thinking easter egg yet? 💙 🤣

unique elm Aug 1, 2024, 10:42 PM

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clever iris Have y'all found the wishful thinking easter egg yet? 💙 🤣

hahaha is it the chelshit 6-0?

clever iris Aug 1, 2024, 10:42 PM

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It is 🤣

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A man can dream

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Round 10: Superb Spain

Jun 20 - Jun 22

The 10th round of the FIA Formula One championship saw the circus return to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Practice went ahead with both drivers keeping the car on track and driving loads of laps. After practice, they would however report to the team that they were both struggling with setting up the car, somewhat reducing their confidence.

In qualifying, both cars made it through to Q2 easily again, with Antonelli matching Lawson on pace. In the second part of qualifying, Lawson put his TGR a whopping P7, while Antonelli could only manage P13. Antonelli''s second lap was much better though, only 0.150 behind Lawson. The Kiwi driver couldn't improve on his second lap, but his first one was good enough to progress to Q3. Antonelli missed out on Q3 by more then 4 tenths, exiting the session in P11. In order to save tires for the race, Lawson then only did 1 flying lap in Q3, placing him 9th.

With Lawson in P9 and Antonelli in P11, a lot was still possible for the TGR team. Antonelli had a stonking start as he got up to the rear of Lawson after the first lap. The pair would then battle it out for over 18 laps, before Antonelli's tires eventually wore down. After some 25 laps, rain came down on the track. Both drivers made their pit stop at exactly the right time, leaving them in P10 and P11. At this point, Antonelli was still ahead of Lawson, but as the rain intensified and the track went to wet conditions, Lawson had a lock up. This allowed Antonelli to get right behind him and eventually overtake him. Both then pitted to full wets before resuming their battle. As they fought, Albon in the Aston Martin got back up to the pair, but before he could put any real pressure on the Toyota's, Aston Martin boxed him as Albon was forced to retire with an electrical issue. The TGR pair continued to scrap for the final points paying position, with Antonelli still margainly ahead. Then, with just 3 laps to go, Hamilton's Ferrari emitted puffs of smoke, he was called in and retired. This left both drivers in P9 and P10, but they were still free to fight. Ultimately, Antonelli was the stronger driver that day as he finished ahead of Lawson to give Toyota Gazoo Racing a double points finish.

The result was much needed for Antonelli, who had experienced a lot of crashes before this race, putting him and the team on the back foot. Hopefully, this result can boost his confidence and see him score more often.

still aurora Aug 2, 2024, 7:14 AM

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"Kimi gets his s*it together and scores points for once, hooray!🙏 "

clever iris Aug 2, 2024, 11:36 AM

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Jody Egginton signs 5 year extension with TGR

July 3th

Head of Technical Operations Jody Egginton has showed his commitment with the TGR team, putting pen to paper on a 5 year extension. The new contract will see him remain with the team untill at least 2030. It is an usually long extension, showing a statement of intent from Toyota and also most likely confirming the team is financially stable again. This is the second staff extension of the season, as race engineer Gary Gannon also extended his contract effective at the start of this season.

Reportedly, both Aston Martin and Alpine were interested in the services of veteran technical chief Jody Egginton, but he declined their offers and commited his future to Toyota Gazoo Racing. The news has been officialy confirmed by TGR president Koji Sato ahead of the Austrian GP.

clever iris Aug 2, 2024, 1:57 PM

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Round 11: Sprint superstars

Jun 27 - Jun 29

After a double points finish in Spain, the team hoped to carry momentum with them to the Austrian GP weekend. Practice went ahead as planned with just the 1 FP session this weekend. In SQ1, TGR surprised many, going through in P6 and P9. In SQ2, they bettered that, with both cars progressing in P5 (Lawson) and P8 (Antonelli). Traffic issues in SQ2 saw Q3 regulars Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly exit sprint qualifying in P14 and P15 respectively. In SQ3, Lawson put in the lap of a lifetime, putting him a mighty P5 as the flag fell. Antonelli would finally match the pace of his teammate, qualifying P6.

Before the sprint, TGR had made the call that whoever would be the highest placed Toyota driver after the first laps would be able to hopefully drive off into the distance, with the second driver holding off the much faster Ferrari's and Mercedes cars. Lawson got off the line well and maintained his place, before Antonelli played the ultimate teammate and held up the cars behind him. He managed to hold off the cars until halfway through the sprint. After that, he unfortunately fell back to P10. Lawson then had enough seconds of a gap to keep ahead of the cars behind. He brought home 4 points from the sprint finishing in an all-time high of P5.

In Grand Prix qualifying, Toyota continued to show good pace, making it out of Q1 with only 1 run on used tires. In Q2, early laps placed Lawson in P8 and Antonelli in P10. Leclerc and Tsunoda then relegated the pair to P9 and P11 before the TGR duo went out again. Lawson did not improve, but his first lap was enough to progress. Antonelli improved, but ultimately just came short, missing out by just 0.03 seconds. In Q3, Lawson only did one run at the end of the session. The lap but him ahead of Tsunoda in P9. The lap he put in was just one tenth away from P5, showcasing the fact that the pace was still there.

On race day, Lawson started on the mediums with Antonelli on hard tires. After Norris and Hamilton went wide out of turn 1, Lawson and Antonelli were up to P7 and P8. Lawson then took off on the better tire and even stuck with the Red Bulls for a while. Hamilton and Norris quickly came back through the field, overtaking both TGR's again. Lawson then ran wide from P5, dropping him to P8. Lawson made his stop and soon after, Alonso ran wide, losing him over 10 seconds and allowing Lawson back past. He was now in P9, fighting Piastri, who was managing a severe mechanical failure. Lawson went past and broke DRS, now up into P8. The driver from New-Zealand showed far superior race pace to Antonelli, lapping significantly faster every lap. Tsunoda was approaching Lawson in a faster Mercedes though, but just as he got past, he locked up and had to tuck in far behind Lawson again. To end all pressure, Tsunoda then spun into the same corner he locked up just a couple laps earlier. Antonelli unfortunately couldn't get past Piastri, finishing just outside of the points in P11. Lawson held on to P8, taking home another 4 points and upping the total points this weekend to 8 points.

clever iris Aug 2, 2024, 2:45 PM

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Round 12: Showing intent

Jul 04 - Jul 06

Practice went well for Toyota Gazoo Racing, with both cars happy with their set-up and plenty of laps on the board.

In qualifying, both cars managed to get through using just one soft tire. The first laps in Q2 put Antonelli in P5 and Lawson in P9. There were no further improvements from TGR in the session as Leclerc crashed out of Q2, bringing out the red flag. This dropped Lawson down to P11 with Antonelli through in P7. The young Italian was 3 tenths faster than his teammate in Q2. In Q3, Antonelli only did one lap on used softs in order to save tires. Miraculously, this lap was good enough to put Antonelli in P6. ahead of both Merc's, an Aston Martin and a Red Bull.

The race started with Antonelli on mediums and Lawson on soft. Antonelli had to concede places to Tsunoda, Albon and Sainz, before Lawson sneaked into the DRS and drove towards Antonelli. On the faster tire, Lawson overtook his teammate with Alonso right behind him. The Spanish Mercedes driver then encountered a mechanical failure, losing Antonelli a load of time as he was behind Alonso. When he finally got past Alonso, Leclerc overtook Antonelli. The Italian rookie saved tires behind Leclerc, benefitting from DRS. Both cars made their pitstop on their strategy and Antonelli found himself 15 seconds behind Lawson at that point. The mechanical issues for Alonso meant both cars found themselves in no-mans land. Lawson finished his lonely final stint in P9, with Antonelli slightly disappointing in P10 after he qualified an impressive P6.

The clean drive from Antonelli meant he has now not crashed since conversations took place about his incidents. His ability to keep it clean now might well save his seat for next year.

clever iris Aug 2, 2024, 9:15 PM

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Round 13: Hung(a)ry for more

Jul 18 - Jul 20

Round 13 saw F1 return to the Hungaroring for the penultimate race before the summer break. In FP1, affiliate driver Gabriele Mini got a surprising call-up to drive the car. He ran wide on his first few laps but then recovered and gained valuable data for the team and for Antonelli.

Ahead of qualifying, TGR announced Antonelli was forced to take a new ERS component, giving him a 10-place grid drop for the race. As a result, Antonelli only did 1 mediocre lap around the Hungaroring before bringing in the car, exiting the session early in P19. Lawson made it through to Q2, where he put his Toyota P11 after the first run. His second run was much better, securing him of another Q3 appearance in P8. On his one and only Q3 lap, Lawson was impeded by traffic and couldn't produce a good lap time. This meant he started P10 for the race, with Antonelli IN P22 after his penalty was applied.

On the formation lap, Lawson was complaining about his gearbox, which was behaving strangely. He got on with things as he maintained P10 off the line and found himself in a DRS train. Antonelli meanwhile had a stonking start, as he gained 9 places by lap 15. When both TGR's made their stops, Antonelli rejoined in P12 with Lawson close ahead of him after a slow stop from the pit crew. An issue for Fernando Alonso saw Lawson re-enter the Top 10 as Antonelli followed behind in P11. With just 3 laps to go, the VSC was brought out after an incident with Ricciardo and Iwasa, the latter retiring from the race. The VSC lasted until the very last corner. With Lawson taking home P10 and Antonelli in a mighty impressive P11, gaining 11 places from his starting position.

F1 heads to Belgium for the next race. With Toyota Gazoo Racing already announcing an ERS penalty for Lawson, can he reproduce Antonelli's comeback drive in Spa?

clever iris Aug 2, 2024, 11:25 PM

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Round 14: What a drive!

Jul 25 - Jul 27

Ahead of FP1, severe rain hit the track, hampering progress in FP1. Both Antonelli and Lawson only did 15 laps to set up the car. FP2 and FP3 weren't much better, with downpours changing the way the teams went about their practice.

Just before qualifying, the rain stopped, setting the drivers up for a dry qualifying. Both cars made it through to Q2 and then 2 stonking laps put Antonelli P7 and Lawson P8. This meant Toyota Gazoo Racing had 2 cars in Q3 for the first time since Japan, 10 rounds ago. In Q3, an early crash by Alex Albon brought out the red flag before anyone had set a laptime. The TGR duo went out right at the end of the session. Antonelli would put his car in P7 while Lawson used the same set of tires he used for the entire qualifying session. The lap was not competitive, but enough to put him P9 as Albon had not set a lap. After the 10 place grid drop was applied he would start from P19.

Antonelli's race got off to a bad start, he tried to keep the much faster cars of Piastri, Tsunoda and Verstappen behind him, but ultimately couldn't manage to. This dropped him down to P10. Meanwhile, Lawson got off to an amazing start, he gained 4 places on the opening lap and was into P11 after just 8 laps. By lap 13, Lawson was just 2 seconds behind his teammate. Albon then came through to take P11 of Lawson and then P10 of Antonelli. By lap 20, near the halfway point of the race, Lawson had cathed all the way up to his teammate and overtook him. The two battled for over 10 laps before unfortunately placed traffic seperated them. As both cars made their final stop onto the soft tire, points were a vague possibility for Lawson. Fernando Alonso was 15 seconds ahead of him on used hards. Both Lawson and Antonelli showed great pace to drive all the way towards the 'young' Spaniard. Lawson overtook him with ease to take P10, while Antonelli came just 2 tenths short, crossing the finish line in P12 after starting in P7. Lawson showcased great skill and determination, taking home a point from P19.

F1 now heads into the summer break, so expect some silly season news to fill the updates channel before the F1 circus heads to Zandvoort for round 15.

clever iris Aug 3, 2024, 1:52 AM

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Adam Kenyon to leave Toyota Gazoo Racing?

As shared by Chris Medland, trustworthy reporter for RACER Magazine, TGR's Head of Aerodynamics Adam Kenyon is set to leave the team for VCARB at the end of the season. It is believed Kenyon initially wanted to stay at Toyota, but TGR couldn't match the salary that Racing Bulls offered him.

If true, this leaves Toyota Gazoo Racing with the challenge to find a replacement for Adam Kenyon before the start of next season's proceedings. Sauber's Alessandro Cinelli has been mentioned as potential favourite for the job, with Alpine's Dirk de Beer also mentioned in the article. Medland himself however believes TGR might be looking at a higher-profile chief, but such one can only be afforded if TGR get their financial situation under control.

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slender tartan Aug 3, 2024, 3:39 AM

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~~Adrian Newey~~

clever iris Aug 3, 2024, 2:24 PM

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Toyota Gazoo Racing to bring significant upgrades out of the summer break

Aug 2th

After we talked to multiple f1 insiders, as well as TGR personnel, it is believed that Toyota Gazoo Racing will bring significant upgrades to the Dutch GP. One particular thrusted source told us that the upgrades would be particularly effective at Monza and Baku, hinting at high-speed improvements on new parts of the TGR01-2.

It is believed these upgrades will be the last major changes to the car, before focus switches to the research and development of next year's car.

TGR are reportedly optimistic that the improvements can take them into the lower regions of the points with both cars even more consistently. The fact TGR are able to invest funds into upgrades halfway through the season shows their financial situation has improved massively. Could this be the start of an upwards trajectory for Toyota Gazoo Racing?

clever iris Aug 3, 2024, 5:46 PM

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Toyota Gazoo Racing confirm departure of Adam Kenyon

Aug 4th

In a statement on TGR's social media and website, the team have announced the departure of Head of Aerodynamics Adam Kenyon. As first reported by RACER Mag's Chris Medland, the former Williams, Red Bull and Mercedes engineer will depart Toyota for VCARB at the end of the current season. TGR also state they will be announcing a replacement in due course, with an announcement expected before the Dutch GP.

Dirk de Beer, Alessandro Cinelli and Toyota's WEC aerodynamicist Shuji Owazaka are currently favourites to take over from Kenyon, starting January 2026.

clever iris Aug 3, 2024, 7:43 PM

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Toyota Gazoo Racing announce new Head of Aero

After news broke of Adam Kenyon leaving the team at the end of 2025, Toyota Gazoo Racing were in search of a new Head of Aerodynamics. Many believed de Beer, Cinelli and Owazaka had the best chance of being appointed, but in a huge turn of events, Toyota have snatched Ian Greig away from the struggling Mercedes team. His contract with the Silver Arrows expires at the end of the 2025 season, meaning TGR will not have to pay Mercedes any buy-out fee.

Greig started his F1 career in 2012 at Mercedes as a CFD aerodynamicist, before becoming the teams senior aerodynamicist. After 9 years with the team he moved to Aston Martin, where he was the team's Head of Aero in 2023 before moving back to Mercedes in the same role. He brings a lot of knowledge with him to Toyota.

still aurora Aug 3, 2024, 7:47 PM

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"That's definitely an upgrade, good riddance to Kenyon"

clever iris Aug 3, 2024, 10:22 PM

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Round 15: Upgrades people, upgrades

Aug 22 - 24

Ahead of the first practice session, TGR confirmed that they brought significant upgrades for the sidepods, chassis and front wing to the Dutch GP. With the upgrades expected to really shine in Monza and onwards.

Lawson watched on from the sidelines in FP1 as Paul Aron took place behind the wheel of the TGR01-2. Both Aron and Antonelli put in plenty of laps before Red Bull's affiliate driver Vanessa Vargas then completely wrote of the car as she crashed during the closing minutes of FP1. The session wouldn't be resumed but Antonelli and Lawson got back to business in FP2 and FP3.

Ahead of qualifying, a downpour hit the track. Both Toyota's went out right at the start, planting their cars in P3 and P5 before the track got worse. In Q2, the track was still wet but both cars got the best out of the conditions, progressing with Lawson in P6 and Antonelli in P7. During Q3, a massive shower hit the track again, severely impacting the track conditions. Both cars were sent out at the end of qualifying. Lawson managed P5 in tricky conditions, with Antonelli 'only' putting his car in P9.

The race then started off completely bone dry, with Lawson dropping places off the line as he was overtaken by much faster cars. He fell back into a DRS train with Antonelli, Gasly, Albon and Alonso. Gasly then escaped DRS after some quick laps. The Toyota drivers would then be involved in some frantic but fair battling, with Lawson ultimately coming out ahead. Albon did manage to escape outside of DRS while the TGR pair battled. After a couple laps, Gasly and Albon both fell back into the clutches of Lawson, before finding some pace again and driving away again. The track got wet and everyone pitted for intermediates. Antonelli had to do another lap however, because he was right behind Lawson and double-stopping would lose them way more time. Unfortunately, while behind both Aston Martn's again, Lawson locked up, dropping him to P9 just in front of Antonelli. The track then dried up and Lawson pitted just at the right moment onto a set of mediums. Antonelli went one lap later but this dropped him in traffic, losing him 6 seconds by the time he got past. He did manage to drive away from Alonso to maintain P10. On the penultimate lap, with both TGR's in P9 and P10, Sainz and Verstappen came together. The incident saw Verstappen retire from P1, with Sainz winning. Because of the incident, Lawson came home in P8 with Antonelli 4 seconds behind in P9. Encouraging sight for both drivers who were still getting to grips with the new parts. Monza is up next, and if we are to believe Toyota's vision, we should expect an even better performance from the team in Italy.

still aurora Aug 3, 2024, 10:23 PM

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Can I see now? 😉

clever iris Aug 3, 2024, 10:23 PM

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You'll have to wait quite a while to see those results, but enjoy these!

still aurora Aug 3, 2024, 10:26 PM

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"Points for both boys and Antonelli hasn't crashed in a while. We could be cooking 😄 "

clever iris Aug 4, 2024, 12:17 PM

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Round 16: Magical Monza

Aug 29 - Aug 31

Before the start of the weekends, hopes were high for the Toyota team as the new upgraded package should really suit the track. It also was another home race for Antonelli, meaning plenty of support was there for the young Italian driver.

Practice was business as usual, with both Lawson and Antonelli keeping the car on track and gathering useful data about the upgraded parts. In practice, the cars already looked pretty quick, but it was yet to be seen if they could replicate this pace in qualifying and the race.

The first laps in qualifying put Antonelli P6 and Lawson P7. TGR was confident that the time would be enough to progress to Q2, and so they did, in P8 and P9. In Q2, Antonelli encountered traffic on his new soft tire run, but the lap on used tires was quick enough to get him through in P7. Lawson progressed in P8. In Q3, Antonelli's fortunes changed as his first lap was over 4 tenths away from Lawson. His second lap wasn't much better, while Lawson put in the lap of a lifetime to qualify in a mighty P4. Antonelli could only manage P9.

P4 and P9 would be upgraded to P3 and P8 following a planned penalty for Verstappen. Both cars had a good start, keeping within 1 second when the DRS got activated. Lawson managed to stick with the podium runners for the majority of the first stint, before Verstappen came from behind and overtook both Lawson and Antonelli. They both fought back, but ultimately had to concede. Both Antonelli and Lawson made a pitstop onto medium tires. By the time it was time for the final stop, Lawson was P4 with Antonelli in P8. On the final stint, Liam Lawson even led a lap for Toyota after the Red Bull's and Piastri ran out of sync. Meanwhile, Antonelli found some amazing pace, scooting by Norris and Leclerc into P6. Hamilton then battled with Lawson, losing the New-Zealander loads of time. Antonelli managed to get into Lawson's DRS and effortlessly overtook him. Unfortunately for Lawson, Leclerc would also pass him. The chequered flag fell and Kimi Antonelli came home in a career-highest P4, with Lawson in P7. The result marked the biggest points haul for Toyota Gazoo Racing in Formula 1.

And if you're a Toyota fan, we've got even better news coming your way. It is believed Toyota will be able to do another round of upgrades from the Singapore GP onwards, after securing funding from a currently still unknown source. We will update you about TGR's finances when we learn more about the situation.

still aurora Aug 4, 2024, 12:20 PM

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"Do you smeeeeeeell what TGR IS COOKING?!?!"

"We're looking better by the day, let's freaking go!!"

clever iris Aug 4, 2024, 10:48 PM

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Round 17: An unexpected fight.

Sep 12 - Sep 14

In Baku, FP1 was interrupted for both Toyota boys as they were called in after the first set-up runs. A suspected electrical issue required further analysis, meaning both drivers exited FP1 after just 15 minutes. The issue was fixed ahead of FP2, and business returned as usual for the rest of practice.

In Q1, both cars only did one run on new softs, progressing in P5 with Antonelli and P7 with Lawson. The first Q2 hotlap on a used tire put Lawson P5 and Antonelli P6. Improvements were made on the second run as both cars easily progressed to Q3 in P4 (LAW) and P7 (ANT). Both Toyota's went out in Q3 on scrubbed sets of soft tires. Antonelli got his TGR up to P4 with Lawson in P6. Lawson's second run was way better however, placing his Toyota on the second row of the grid in P4. Antonelli couldn't match his teammate and qualified P7, 4 tenths off Lawson. After Antonelli was on pace or faster than Lawson on every run, it is disappointing seeing him 4 tenths behind his teammate.

Ahead of the race, Toyota Gazoo Racing replaced Antonelli's gearbox, resulting in a penalty that dropped him to P11. At the start, Antonelli fell back into the clutches of Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly, who had qualified out of position. Meanwhile, Lawson managed to stay with Leclerc despite the Monegasque being on soft tires with Lawson on mediums. Just 4 laps into the race, Sauber's Theo Pourchaire crashed out of the race, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car. After the VSC ended, Piastri immediately zoomed by Lawson as Antonelli got back to P11 on lap 7, with a 5 second gap to Alonso in P10. Lawson then reovertook Piastri before driving back to the rear of Charles Leclerc. The Toyota driver then proceeds to battle with Leclerc. All the while, Antonelli was absolutely flying out on track. Making up for the 5 second gap in no time and overtaking both Mercedes's effortlessly. As Lawson lost out on the battle with Leclerc and Antonelli drove away from the Mercedes pair, Sergio Perez crashed his Haas, bringing out the safety car before eventually red flagging the race. Both TGR cars changed tires under the red flag, with Lawson on a set of softs and Antonelli on mediums. Off the line, Lawson overtakes Leclerc while Antonelli picks off both Norris and Albon. Lawson then dropped pace, letting Leclerc back past but crucially still within DRS range. Antonelli was up for a fight as he battled Albon and Piastri for P5. in this DRS train, Antonelli pushed his tires too much and he dropped to P8. Lawson meanwhile pushed on and even gets up to 3 seconds behind the leading Red Bull's, who were battling fiercely. Ultimately, Lawson's tires degraded and Leclerc overtook him again. Lawson pitted and a lightning quick stop helped him rejoin in P7. Antonelli pit a few laps later and rejoined P8 as he was under pressure of Piastri. Lawson meanwhile overtook Albon for P4 as multiple cars pitted. Antonelli also showed great pace again, driving towards Albon quickly before overtaking on lap 42. Behind Antonelli, a fast approaching Hamilton appeared on fresh softs, he got by Antonelli immediately and drove towards Lawson. The 7-time world champion overtook Lawson with relative ease, but the former Red Bull reserve managed to stay within DRS for a while. Eventually, both Lawson and Antonelli's tires fell away. They would however secure the teams best result in P5 and P6.

The result meant TGR would take home a further 18 points from the event. After having outscored Mercedes significantly in Monza and again in Baku, TGR was now right behind in the battle for 5th place. A battle that looked impossible for the most part of the season. Can the upgraded package for TGR secure the team a 5th place finish? We'll have to wait and see how the rest of the season goes for the Japanese outlet.

clever iris Aug 5, 2024, 4:15 PM

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Round 18: Making history

Sep 19 - Sep 21

Practice went ahead as planned, with both drivers putting in plenty of laps and gaining valuable data about the car behaviour on this circuit. They also tested the new parts on the car for the first time.

In qualifying, both cars made it through to Q2 with just 1 run. In Q2, the TGR drivers had traffic on the first lap on used tires, putting Antonelli in P6 and Lawson in P13. The second lap for Lawson was much better. Both cars progressed in P6 for Lawson and P9 for Antonelli. In Q3, the first flying lap was done on a used tire for all the remaining cars. The laps but Antonelli P6 with Lawson P9. Antonelli then couldn't find much of an improvement while Lawson did. The TGR duo would qualify P7 (Lawson) and P8 (Antonelli)

Ahead of the race, both drivers spoke out about the excellent race pace showed in simulations ran by the team. Just before the race got underway, a massive shower hit the track, making for an intermediate start with no signs of an improving track. At the start, Lawson passed Piastri and Albon to take P5 while Antonelli took P7. As the young Italian got into the rhythm, he was crashed into by rival Yuki Tsunoda. Luckily, this inicdent only caused damage to Tsunoda's car. In an unbelievable decision, the stewards awarded Antonelli a penalty for the incident that lost him 4 seconds already up to that point. Lawson meanwhile was really growing into the race as he got in the DRS battle for P3. The battle would be stopped by a VSC after Theo Pourchaire found the wall and retired. When the VSC ended, Lawson dropped out of the DRS train, but soon got back up to Norris who also dropped off. Lawson overtakes Norris and clears the DRS immediately. Lawson abandons the possibility of a no-stop and pits for a new set of intermediate tires. He comes out of the pits in P5 as Antoneli pits as well. He also had to serve his penalty, making him rejoin in P9. Meanwhile, Lawson showed amazing pace, with a podium even being a possibility. Norris, who was still out on track on his old inters significantly held up his much faster teammate to give Lawson a 4.5 second gap in P3. The gap would however be closed down as the race was neutralized when Yuki Tsunoda crashed out. Multiple drivers including Norris made a pitstop to new intermediates, this saw the race restarted with Lawson in P3 and Antonelli somehow in P4. Behind Antonelli were Hamilton and Albon on much fresher tires. Antonelli fought for his life to let Lawson escape, and so he did. Lawson had a 4 second gap before Albon and Hamilton surprisingly dropped off again. As the laps ticked down, Antonelli got further away from Hamilton and Albon. Liam Lawson would come home in a magnificent P3, securing TGR's first ever podium finish with Antonelli 2 seconds behind in P4. Toyota Gazoo Racing were ecstatic as they took home 27 points. Mercedes scored 0 points, meaning Toyota would even overtake them in the constructors championship. A historic day for Toyota Gazoo Racing that surely won't be forgotten.

clever iris Aug 5, 2024, 7:30 PM

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Round 19: The American dream?

Oct 17 - Oct 19

FP1 went as planned with no notable incidents. The weekend marked the return of a sprint after multiple rounds without one. This meant Sprint qualifying was up straight after practice.

On the first hotlap in SQ1, Antonelli put his car in P3 while Lawson had an awful lap in P19. Lawson had to go out another time and ultimately progressed in P10 with Antonelli in P5. Antonelli then replicated his SQ1 effort, placing his car in P3 again with Lawson still lacking in P10. The cars went out again and Antonelli progressed in P5 with Lawson improving up to P7. In SQ3 there was only room for 1 flying lap. Antonelli messed up his lap, only managing P9 after looking promising througout the session. Lawson put in a barnstormer of a lap, qualifying his Toyota in P3 for the sprint.

Lawson started the sprint race on mediums, with Antonelli opting for the hard tire. Antonelli gains a place into turn 1 with Lawson losing a place to Piastri. Gasly then overtook Lawson as Antonelli also dropped a place, back to P9. Lawson then found himself in a fierce battle with the Ferrari of Hamilton. He ultimately lost the battle, also being overtaken by Albon and Norris. The battles dropped him down to P8 before he found form again, re-overtaking both Norris and Albon. As Alex Albon got back past Lawson, the red flag was brought out for an incident involving Ayuma Iwasa, Guanyu Zhou and Nico Hulkenberg.
Both TGR's changed to new soft tires under the red flag. Lawson had an amazing start and was up to P5 at the end of the restart lap. Antonelli made inroads towards P7. Lawson then breezed past Hamilton and Piastri with seeming ease. On the last lap of the sprint, Antonelli overtook Leclerc for P6 which he then defended for the rest of the lap. Lawson finished the sprint with a bronze medal in P3 while Antonelli and Leclerc raced to the line with Antonelli just ahead for P6.

Both Toyota's easily made it out of Q1 and Q2, both times in P6 and P7, with Antonelli just ahead on both occasions. In Q3, the Toyota's did 1 meaningful run at the end of the session. Antonelli put his TGR P6 while Lawson qualified P7, separated by only 1 thousand (!!) of a second. Grid penalties for the race meant P6 and P7 would be upgraded to P3 and P4.

Hours before the race, the rain started to hit the track and did not stop for hours. When the race started, the rain was still pouring down on the track, making for a start on intermediate tires. In Turn 2, Lawson drops back to P5 as Antonelli overtakes Hamilton for P2. Lawson and Gasly engage in battle but Gasly eventually gets the better of the 2. Hamilton also got back past Antonelli before Leclerc overtook Lawson as well. A couple laps later, Leclerc also breezes past Antonelli and Piastri overtakes Lawson. As track conditions got worse, the field boxed for wets. Both TGR's however stayed out a lap to long and rejoin P5 and P7. Rain eased off somewhat and almost everyone got back to intermediates. Two quick stops meant they would rejoin in P4 and P5. A mechanical issue for Hamilton then relieved pressure on Lawson. Piastri in the McLaren catches back up to Lawson and overtakes him. Lawson would repass him 3 laps later. Piastri then fell back due to poor tire management. Antonelli took the flag to finish in P4 with Lawson 5 seconds behind in P5. Mercedes wouldn't score a point once again, further extending Toyota's advantage.

clever iris Aug 5, 2024, 7:51 PM

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Design centre shut down in fear of total collapse

October 22th

Big news coming out of Cologne as Toyota Gazoo Racing's Design centre and wind tunnel have been shut down for at least 18 days. The shutdown is a necesarry safety measure as a structural analysis took place just a couple days ago. The analysis exposed critical faults in the structure of the building. Keeping the design centre open would pose a huge safety threat to those working at the facility. TGR's factory and operations centre will remain opened throughout the renovations.

TGR find themselves somewhat lucky, as the design centre is currently not in use to design any new parts for this season. However the closure of the facility means that Toyota can not research any parts for next year, with a huge regulation change coming up next year. This could massively hamper their progress if the team can't research in time.

wispy mason Aug 5, 2024, 8:07 PM

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"This is fine"

still aurora Aug 5, 2024, 8:08 PM

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[this what you were trying for Alice? 😂]

wispy mason Aug 5, 2024, 8:10 PM

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[yup!]

clever iris Aug 5, 2024, 10:24 PM

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Round 20: Madness in Mexico

Oct 24 - Oct 26

In FP1, Liam Lawson had the session off as Jack Doohan took his place behind the wheel of the TGR01-2. When the cameras panned to Doohan leaving the garage, many were quick to point out a different rear wing to Antonelli on his car. Doohan put in the most laps of anyone with 33 laps. The rest of practice went ahead as planned.

In Q1, both cars only did 1 run, placing Antonelli 4th and Lawson on the brink of elimination in P14. In Q2, Lawson would recover from his Q1 scare, progressing in P6 after 2 runs with Antonelli in P8. The first runs in the final part of qualifying put Lawson P4 with Antonelli in P10 due to traffic. Lawson was demoted to P6 before he retook P4 with his second lap. Antonelli secured a P6 in qualifying, just a tenth behind his teammate.

A penalty for Lando Norris meant Antonelli would line up right behind his teammate in P5. Wet weather was expected but the race started off in the dry. The rain was however expected within 6 laps. Lawson chose fresh soft tires to start while Antonelli opted for slightly used tires to save new rubber for the end of the race, where it could potentially dry out. Into turn 1, Antonelli manages to line up a move on Lawson which he completed out of turn 2. At the end of the lap, Fernando Alonso crashes his Mercedes, and with that also Mercedes' realistic chance to beat Toyota. Alonso did get back underway in P21. Antonelli then overtook Sainz for P2, but quickly lost the place again. Most of the field then pitted for Intermediate tires on lap 3, but both TGR drivers stayed out an extra lap along with Leclerc, Perez and Hamilton. The team put out two very quick stops in a phenomenal double-stack attempt. They lost a little bit of time but managed to come out in P1 and P3, as waiting an extra lap was absolutely the right call. Sainz then gets past Lawson for P3 and disappears. Lawson then drives towards the rear of Leclerc and overtakes him to reclaim P3. Antonelli pushes really hard to keep the gap to Sainz. Meanwhile, conditions got worse and the first cars pit for full wets on lap 11. Toyota extend 1 lap longer and double-stack again. This time the execution was absolutely perfect with 2 sub-2 second pitstops. Red Bull decide to stay out and so Antonelli and Lawson rejoin P3 and P4. Sainz then does pit a lap later and Antonelli gets by. Two laps later, Verstappen has to concede and switch to ex-wets. This drops him to P5 and gives Antonelli back the lead. Sainz' Red Bull would turn out to be extremely quick as he decimated the gap to Antonelli. Antonelli and Sainz are engaged in a battle for 4 laps, before Verstappen passes Lawson and joins the battle. Leclerc meanwhile came back at Lawson and the two fought it out over P4. On lap 47, Lawson and Sainz pit back to intermediate tires, with Antonelli and Verstappen going longer. At the end of lap 48, Antonelli pits for intermediate tires but got stuck in traffic to cars that did not obey blue flags. Antonelli lost 3 seconds and so the win was now off the cars. The track got better and Verstappen pits from wets straight to dries. Antonelli also pitted and Verstappen and Sainz get back past. Lawson then catches back up to Antonelli and the pair are told they are free to fight with Leclerc 25 seconds behind. Lawson overtakes and Antonelli sits behind in DRS. The young Italian rookie takes back the place and Lawson drops out of the battle with tire concerns. Sainz then reports a mechanical issue and loses the win, but its too late for Toyota to pounce on it. Antonelli takes his very first podium in Formula 1, with Lawson 3 seconds behind in P4 to take home another 27 points.

Another amazing result by the Toyota Gazoo Racing F1 team, with special thanks to the pit crew for executing absolutely perfect pit stops during the entire race.

clever iris Aug 5, 2024, 10:55 PM

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Round 21: Battling away in Brazil

Oct 31 - Nov 2

In the only practice session of the weekend, both drivers drove a lot of laps in order to learn the track and the car behaviour and gather confidence and data.

Sprint qualifying was up next. Both cars confidently made it through to SQ2 with no real effort. Lawson's first lap in SQ2 was poor however, leaving him in P11 at the time while Antonelli placed his TGR P4. The second lap was much better for Lawson, as both progressed in P5 (Lawson) and P6 (Antonelli). In SQ3 both drivers only did one lap. Antonelli put in the fifth fastest time with Lawson right behind in P6.

After the 5 red lights went out for the sprint, Antonelli had an amazing start as he overtook Leclerc on the first lap. Lawson meanwhile overtook both Piastri and Verstappen to take P4. Piastri showed his pace though, as he got back past Lawson. The two then battled with the aid of DRS. By lap 8, P1 to P7 were only seperated by 2 (!) seconds, before Antonelli got caught out and spun. He rejoined P9 but miraculously did not kill his tires. After the incident, Lawson dropped away from the leaders before the red flag was shown for an incident regarding Sergio Perez and George Russell. Both Toyota's fitted fresh soft tires and Lawson was up to P2 after the first corners. Halfway through the lap, he briefly even leads before getting repassed a lap later. Lawson manages to stay with Sainz and they exchange the lead multiple times. Behind Lawson, Hamilton locked up, nearly taking out Lawson. Antonelli gained a place into P7 as Charles Leclerc surprisingly took the lead. Antonelli meanwhile gets up to P5 after overtaking Gasly. On the last lap, Lawson couldn't get past on the pit straight but salvaged a move into turn 4. The two would stay very close together and run eachother to the line. Lawson had just enough as he crossed the line in P1 on a near photo-finish. Antonelli meanwhile also gets lucky and sets up a move into the penultimate corner. He has a great exit and beats Verstappen to the line in P4.

After such a great sprint result, pressure was off. The TGR drivers got out on track immediately though for Q1. They just finished their lap when Esteban Ocon dropped it into the wall, bringing out the red flag. Only 7 cars had set a lap so far and TGR were 1-2. They felt the lap was good enough to progress and did so with Lawson in P3 and Antonelli in P7. In Q2, they cut it a bit closer. Only doing 1 run, they progressed in P7 and P10. In Q3, both drivers produced great laps, leaving Antonelli in P4 and Lawson in P5, only separated by 0.050.

Antonelli started his race on softs with Lawson on hard tires. Somehow Lawson gets Antonelli into turn 1. The slower tire compound immediately lost out to the front runners on softs, Antonelli got back past a couple laps later but the damage was already done. Both Toyota's would struggle with pace as Piastri overtook both. Antonelli did however manage to stay with the McLaren as they battled for multiple laps. The battle allowed both Hamilton and Lawson back into the fight. Antonelli's tires then disappeared underneath him, making him drop off slightly, but crucially still inside the DRS train. The train, lead by Antonelli then drove back towards Leclerc in P3. Lawson suddenly drops away from Hamilton and the train splits. Antonelli then boxed as Lawson gets overtaken by Piastri. In the DRS of Piastri, Lawson got back towards Hamilton before he makes his pitstop. He comes out 6 seconds behind Antonelli in an effort to go long. Hamilton then caught Piastri and Antonelli napping as he completely escapes from both. The TGR duo then both box for softs. Antonelli rejoins in P6 with Lawson in P8. Antonelli re-overtakes Piastri who tried to go to the end on hards. Lawson meanwhile gets by Norris. On the penultimate lap, Antonelli sets the fastest lap before lapping championship rival Fernando Alonso, coming home in P5 with Lawson in P7

clever iris Aug 5, 2024, 11:22 PM

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Round 22: Upping the stakes in gambling paradise

Nov 20 - Nov 22

Ahead of the Las Vegas GP, both drivers took 2 new components, giving them both a penalty. Practice went as planned without any incidents.

In qualifying, both cars easily made it out of Q1 and Q2 on 1 set of tires, showcasing the great pace this weekend. Lawson put his TGR in P2 on heavily used softs and he wouldn't run again. Antonelli did use up another set of tires and the efforts put Antonelli P6 and Lawson P8 before any penalties were applied.

Ahead of the race, both drivers would feel fortuitous having progressed to Q3, as multiple drivers took even harsher penalties, only dropping the TGR pair down to P8 and P10. Both cars would start the race on soft tires as Antonelli held position at the start and Lawson gained a place. Antonelli then zoomed past Tsunoda and Norris in the space of a lap. While battling with Lawson, Tsunoda hit the wall and fell behind, promoting Lawson to P8. Liam Lawson then used his pace to get towards Antonelli, who was battling Norris. Lecler suddenly crashes and loses his front wing, allowing both TGR's to get past easily. Gasly then loses a lot of time and falls back into the DRS train. Antonelli overtakes both Gasly and Norris and drives towards Piastri. Lawson meanwhile conserves his tires and stays in the DRS train. Antonelli overtake Piastri and the two battle for multiple laps. Their pace was still good though, as they drove towards the leading duo of Sainz and Hamilton. On lap 13, Antonelli pits and rejoins in P6 after a tight job by the pit crew. He rejoins the race in P6. Lawson pits to a set of hard tires and rejoins in P7 before overtaking and battling Pierre Gasly. McLaren's Lando Norris then pits and comes out behind Lawson and Gasly, but on soft tires. After Antonelli's second stop, he was in P3 before Sainz re-overtook him. Lawson meanwhile had to tuck back in behind Norris and Gasly. Antonelli comes into the pits for his final stop and Lawson inherits P3. Then, a crash by Daniel Ricciardo brought out the VSC. This ruined Antonelli's chances on his agressive strategy as he came in again for a new set of softs after only being on the mediums for 10 laps. Lawson also pits for new softs. The VSC ended with Lawson in P4 and Antonelli in P7. Lawson pushes towards the rear of Piastri and gets past before quickly getting Piastri out of DRS range as well. Antonelli meanwhile got to the rear of Norris and overtook him for P6. Lawson held off Piastri easily, securing the team another podium visit in P3. Antonelli got P6 despite the strategic misfortune. Mercedes however did not get a single point again, mathematically securing Toyota Gazoo Racing of a huge P5 finish in the constructors.

[yes, going through these a bit faster now to wrap up the season, hope you dont mind.]

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clever iris Aug 5, 2024, 11:58 PM

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Round 23: Late charge?

Practice at the Lusail International Circuit stared rather well. Both drivers put in a lot of laps to get confident on this 1 and only practice session. But then, while running older engine components, Antonelli's engine suffered a blowout, ending his session prematurely.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing team were quick to swap parts back around and Antonelli got out for SQ1 on time. Both drivers would easily progress to SQ2. In SQ2, Antonelli put in the 7th fastest time and Lawson the 8th fastest time. Enough to progress to SQ3. Because of the limited amount of time, both drivers only did 1 run in SQ3. Antonelli put in a great lap to go P4 with Lawson behind in P5. A good position to start the sprint in.

At the start, both drivers got out of DRS quickly, before Antonelli pushed to get back to Piastri. He got close but ultimately could not. The Toyota pairing would then be engaged in a battle of their own, with Antonelli coming out on top. Lawson lost the DRS soon after and Verstappen overtook. Right as the Dutchman was lining up a move on Antonelli, he spun. Dropping him to P11 and damaging his tires. Norris then overtook Liam Lawson and that was the final piece of action. Antonelli would cruise to the line, finishing P4. Lawson followed just behind Norris in P6.

Qualifying for the Grand Prix was next. Antonelli put his car in P6 on his one and only run, with Lawson cutting it close again in P12. The first run in Q2 saw Antonelli in fourth with Lawson in fifth. A second run wouldn't be necesarry as both progressed in the exact same position. In Q1, the early runs saw Lawson P6 with Antonelli in P9. The second run saw no improvement from any driver left in the session. Leaving Lawson to start P6 with Antonelli P9 after looking the faster driver for the entire session.

At the start, Antonelli gained a place and then fought Norris for P7. Lawson overtakes Hamilton due to a tire advantage, and Antonelli followed suit. Antonelli then looks faster and he overtakes Lawson. The latter would drop out of DRS. Antonelli then pits and comes out just before Norris, who had pit a lap earlier. Norris was on Mediums though, with Antonelli on Hards. Meanwhile, both Red Bulls report mechanical issues, as does Norris. Lawson pits for his penultimate stop, changing from mediums to softs. He rejoins in P9. Then, Sainz' engine starts smoking and he is forced to bring it to the garage and retire. Antonelli inherits P4. Lawson shows some great pace, setting the fastest lap. Then Hamilton overtakes Antonelli again, demoting him to P5. Antonelli and Lawson pit for one last time as Norris also reitres with a mechanical issue. Both cars then cruised to the finish, with Antonelli coming home in P5 and Lawson in P6.

The points haul in the sprint and the race now meant Toyota had a mathematical chance to take P4 away from Aston Martin, but with only 1 race remaining. Chances are low, BUT NEVER ZERO.

clever iris Aug 6, 2024, 12:28 AM

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Round 24: Surely not, right?

Dec 5 - Dec 7

In practice, both drivers tried their very best to stretch the worn components to the end of the season, in order not to take a grid drop for the penultimate race. This saw limited running in FP1 and 2, before business returned as usual in FP3. Last weekend, Toyota's point haul meant they could mathematically still beat Aston Martin, but they would need to outscore them by 40 points. A practically impossible mission, as it would have to be at least a double podium with a win to achieve this. Hence, the focus shifted away from this impossible battle. In other news, the recent misfortune for Verstappen meant that Sainz carried over a 4 points lead into the final round. Whoever of them wins would take home the championship.

The first laps in qualifying saw Antonelli progress in P6 and Lawson in P10. Q2 was smooth sailing as well, progressing with Lawson in P4 and Antonelli in P6. Q3 saw the pair push out 2 great laps for the last time with Lawson in P4 and Antonelli in P5. Last-ditch penalties saw Lawson start in P2 with Antonelli in P3.

Both Toyota drivers maintained their spot off the line and battled it out for the first lap, until Leclerc and Albon had a massive crash into turn 6, bringing out the safety car. Lots of cars, including the leader pitted under the safety car, but both Toyota's stayed out to be 1-2 when the safety car got back into pit lane. Iconic pictures at last for the Toyota team. Verstappen soon got back past Lawson who was struggling with pace. The dutchman would soon pass Antonelli for the race lead he so desperately needed. Lawson pits to hards a couple laps later and rejoins in P10. He quickly overtook the cars on an alternative strategy and got back up to P6. Antonelli then pits but experiences a slower stop. He rejoins in P4 behind Hamilton. Nothing happens for a while before Piastri retires with a mechanical issue just before he could bring it into the pitlane. With better tire wear and just 10 laps to go, Antonelli has an outside shot to do the unthinkable. After the safety car got into the pits, Antonelli took the LEAD of the Grand Prix. He looked set for a lap-long battle to the line before an incident involving Hulkenberg and Bottas brought out a very controversial red flag. Antonelli is one of only three drivers who still had a new soft remaining, with Lawson having to put uses soft tires on his car. The restart was easy going before Verstappen breezed past Antonelli on the very last lap to take the lead, and virtually the championship. It was heartbreak for Antonelli and Sainz. OR SO THEY THOUGHT.

Using everything left in that car, including DRS, Antonelli gets side by side on the next straight. He looks to come just short but then absolutely lunges one down the inside of Verstappen. Antonelli is ahead going into sector 3. Verstappen is still close behind him but theres nothing he can do anymore.

ANDREA KIMI ANTONELLI CROSSES THE LINE TO WIN THE ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX!!!!!!

Verstappen comes home in P2, but Sainz holds off Lawson and takes the WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP by 2 points. He immediately bursts out in tears and drives towards Antonelli, thanking him graciously. Antonelli himself cant quite believe it. He has won a race in his rookie campaign with Toyota Gazoo Racing!
Lawson comes home in P4 but TGR couldn't really care less. Their driver just won the Abu Dhabi GP!

Toyota take away 37 points, but with Gasly in P6, the impossible remains impossible. However i doubt anyone at TGR could care.

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Hirakawa could never btw

wispy mason Aug 6, 2024, 12:31 AM

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Hirakawa could never indeed

clever iris Aug 6, 2024, 2:54 PM

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End of season review

December 31th

The season got off to a tricky start, with Hirakawa still in the car for the first two races, the team only salvaged 2 points in the first 4 rounds. Their battle looked to be with Williams, VCARB, Haas, Alpine and Sauber, but upgrades and form then made for better performances. Miami would be the last race the team wouldn't score points, scoring in every single round from then. The real change to the team came after the summer break, where the team brought massive upgrades and score double points for 6 races in a row before the team even climbed on the podium for the very first time. . They would repeat the trick in Mexico and even won a sprint race in Brazil. In Vegas, the team scored their third podium, before a shock win at the Abu Dhabi GP rounded up the season.

The team also secured its future by extending key personnel contracts and the appointment if Ian Greig for the 2026 season. They were never in any danger of breaking the cost cap and showed financial stability throughout the season. Their form will surely attract higher class sponsors for next season.

This season saw a very dominant Red Bull pairing fight their way to the constructors championship easily, with a very controversial late intervention in Abu Dhabi after a Williams crashed out, flipping the championship one final time and crowning Sainz the World Drivers Champion (sounds a bit familiar, doesn't it)

Toyota Gazoo Racing secured a mighty fifth place in the constructors championship, beating the once so mighty Mercedes and setting the bar high for next year. Liam Lawson ended the season in P8, with Antonelli just 9 points behind, having taken a win on his rookie campaign.

All in all it was a very impressive season for Toyota Gazoo Racing, and they will hope to pounce on the strong ending to start next year strong.

clever iris Aug 6, 2024, 4:33 PM

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F1 unveil new calendar for the 2026 season

January 1st

Formula One Management have today announced the calendar for the 2026 F1 season.

Most notable is the return of Melbourne as season opener, while Azerbaijan returns to the front of the calendar and Hungary becomes the last race before the summer break. Some minor shuffles have also been made to make the calender more eco-friendly. The revised calendar sees the first European race only at race 8.

Some sprint changes have also been made. Miami loses its sprint format and so does Austin and Qatar. Azerbaijan becomes a sprint weekend again after a 2 year absence. The Dutch GP also finally becomes a sprint weekend, after initially planned back in 2022. Abu Dhabi reaches the end of its season finale spot contract, as it is expected to be swapped for the 2027 season onwards.

The full calendar can be viewed below. Feel free to share your thoughts about the new calendar.

clever iris Aug 6, 2024, 8:40 PM

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Toyota Gazoo Racing announce sponsor changes

January 12th

Toyota Gazoo Racing have today announced changes to their team sponsor roster.

APTRD and ABAOS stay with the team and have matched the revised valuation by the team. Arcoar and Lumiura have both disagreed on this new valuation and have left the team with immediate effect. Toyota Gazoo Racing express their gratitude to both for supporting the team.

In other major news, Euro Wire Exchange have stepped down as title sponsor after they failed to match an outside bid. The finance company will stay with the team, but in a less prominent role.

In a sensational move, investment company Bansana Group have bought an undisclosed amount of shares of the TGR F1 team, as well as a huge bid to become the team's title sponsor. The deal is rumoured to be worth a whopping 100 million dollars. This new record-deal ends all speculation about Toyota's financial situation. With this cash injection, could Toyota even challenge for the title?

Serpent Hydrocell also stays with the team and have partnered with new fuel partner MMOX to supply the team their specially engineerd fuel mixture. MMOX is owned by the Bansana Group and it is understood Bansana will pay another 20 million dollars to feature the MMOX logo on the car.

Toyota Gazoo Racing unveil their 2026 challenger on the 12th of February, just 1 month from now.

clever iris Aug 6, 2024, 10:54 PM

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Toyota Gazoo Racing and Honda extend partnership

Today, Toyota Gazoo Racing F1 and Honda (former Red Bull Powertrains) have announced the agreement to extend the engine partnership for a further 2 year. The deal was initially made on the condition that Toyota would develop its own engine from 2026 onwards, but Toyota's former financial issues as well as a fire in the factory and the closing of its design centre meant that the engine that is in development will not be finished until at least 2027. The new deal will see Honda supply engines to TGR until the end of the 2028 season.

clever iris Aug 7, 2024, 1:00 AM

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Toyota Gazoo Racing present 2026 challenger

At a private event at the TGR centre of operations in Cologne, Toyota Gazoo Racing presented its car for the 2026 season.

This year's challenger is an evolution of last year's livery concept, with a couple smooth tweaks and a darker shade of black featuring on the car.

Like last year, APTRD feature on the front wing. This year they are also featured above the air intakes. MMOX takes the most prominent sidepod position, with parent company Bansana Group above it, as well as on the front and rear wing. ABAOS feature on the halo and remain on the side of the rear wing. Euro Wire Exchange features less prominently on this year's car. Serpent maintains its underfloor position, as well as the front winglets.

Feel free to share your opinion about the TGR02-1 .

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clever iris Aug 7, 2024, 4:02 PM

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Changes on the F1 grid

Ahead of the 2026 season, lets share with you the roster for the season.

Red Bull

The Austrian team maintain their strong line-up of world champions Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen. Last year saw them pick up just short of a thousand points, can they produce another dominant season?

McLaren

Like rivals Red Bull, McLaren also retain their strong line-up of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Last year saw them pick up just 2 wins. Can they close the gap to the top this year?

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will continue to drive for the prancing horse. After a disappointing 2025 season, they too hope to bounce back in 2026.

Aston Martin

After surprising many last year with their quick start, they fell away from the top and only secured P4 by 8 points. They have retained both Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly and hope to attack the front this year.

Mercedes

After an incredible 25 years since he first made his debut, Alonso announced his retirement after the Abu Dhabi GP. Mercedes picked up former academy product Esteban Ocon from a struggling Williams team. Can this move revive his career? Alongside Ocon, Mercedes have kept Tsunoda, who dominated his senior teammate last year.

Williams

With Ocon off to Mercedes, Williams had another seat to fill. They have signed veteran driver Nico Hulkenberg, who made his debut with the Williams F1 team all the way back in 2010. Guanyu Zhou keeps his seat after a disappointing 2025 campaign.

Visa Cash App RB

As Hulkenberg departed the team, RB got back to its true purpose as development team for Red Bull. They signed Red Bull Junior and F2 vice champion Isack Hadjar to the team alongside the returning Ayuma Iwasa.

Kick Sauber

Both Valtteri Bottas and Theo Pourchaire stay with the team that scored just 2 points last year, as they hope to get back to the midfield battle more often.

Alpine

The struggling French team keep their strong line-up of Daniel Ricciardo and George Russel. Its a shame the car is so poor because that line-up can surely bring a lot of results to the team with a competitive car.

Haas

Lance Stroll has left the sport to embark on a new journey in WEC with Aston Martin, while Sergio Perez was dropped by the team after a series of crashes. Haas welcomes Antonio Giovinazzi back to the team as he leaves his WEC spot with Ferrari. Alongside Antonio will be the dominant F2 champion Zane Maloney.

Toyota Gazoo Racing

TGR retain their young and talented duo of Liam Lawson and race-winner Kimi Antonelli. With new investments for the 2026 season, can they challenge for wins or even the title?

clever iris Aug 8, 2024, 10:52 PM

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TGR Updates are on hold for now, will resume either in a couple days or end of august

#Toyota Gazoo Racing F1 - Updates