saleem

Just when you thought things couldnt get any worse for Toyota this season in F1. Mike Gascoyne has been officially booted. Rumors abound of months of tension brewing between Mike Gascoyne and Toyota. Here is what Grandprix.com has to say about the situation. Its very simple in my opinion. Toyota the juggernaut of a company just cant seem to make a breakthrough and for there F1 effort to survive need a much awaited win. It was bound to happen, im glad they are realizing and fixing there problems now while getting there *** kicked by teams like Red bull racing, Williams and for gods sake Midland. I want them to win soon for gods sake.



"APRIL 5, 2006

Toyota confirms Gascoyne "suspension"

Toyota has announced that technical director Mike Gascoyne has been suspended indefinitely after what the Japanese team described as a "fundamental difference of opinion".
This is not entirely correct as after six months Gascoyne can pretty much do as he pleases as legally-speaking it is a long-established precedent that Formula 1 engineers can only be kept to contracts for six months because to try to hold them for longer impinges on their ability to keep up to date with the fast-moving technology of F1. Thus Gascoyne may have a contract with Toyota until the end of 2007 but the Japanese firm cannot hold him beyond September, at which point he is free to work elsewhere. The next six months is therefore going to be spent in negotiations of how a financial settlement can be made."

GS4DOUGIE

iTrader: (6)

They (Toyota) do seem to be going backward this year. I was hoping they could build on last years' success, but are struggling thus far. Maybe this change will promote better results-

D

saleem

Its kind of odd that so far we have seen only three races, its the begining of a new season and this happens ?!?! why couldnt they just do this in the testing months in the off season ? With a team like Renault whose success has been monumental over the last season or so there future is uncertain at the moment. We all dont know if they are coming back next season. There are plenty of stories and speculation about Renault leaving F1 due to a cost cutting measure. If thats the case Toyota better have some money lined up to hire there engineers and technical know how. That would be there best bet to obliterate the competition. The second thing Toyota desperately needs is some REAL driving skill. I think they should give Ricardo Zonta a chance instead of Ralf Schumacher who I personally believe is a overpaid cry baby who has done nothing but destroy a couple of cars since last season with his spectacular crash in Monte Carlo and then in Indianapolis aswell. He is constantly at the back of the back and cant fight his way through traffic. His last race he somehow made it past the pack in the safety car periods. That is the FIRST time I have seen Ralf fight or try to out manuver on the track. They really need to wake up. Spending a fortune is not always the answer.

SupraCoup3

they did alright last race... but that was due to some aggresive driving by Ralph and Button blowing his motor on the last turn I think

saleem

t-i-m-m-a-y-e-e-e-e-e-e-e--e-e !

spwolf

Button was already behind ralph actually. He was 5th. Toyota had quicker car than anyone but Renault or Mclaren for the complete weekend. Too bad somone hit Trulli since he was faster on the track than Ralph.

Whole problem in performance during first 2 races was new bridgestone tires that Toyota isnt used to and that need heating up a lot more than Michelins they used before. When they fixed it in 3rd race, they went fine.

As to Gascoyne, I saw it happening. Its called accountability. You cant say you will win races this year, when you KNOW you dont have the car to do it. Up to Bahrain they were claiming they will do much better - while they knew they wont.

good riddance.

saleem

AMEN ! +1000000

Mr Johnson

He always struck me as an overrated arrogant p***k so I'm not sad to see him go. Last year he'd be saying: "The car is fast it must be our drivers!"

Oh please!

Guess all those winglets on the Toyota didn't provide the speed you needed. Grrr..... It angers me to think of how much $$$ he made and how little he has produced in return.

OTOH: I wish some of my bosses at work would hold their employees as responsible for results as Toyota did here.

carenthus

Good point. I agree with your statements from beginning to end including the OTOH statement. People need to be more accountable. I see too much talk but no action in this world.

I think Toyota also overpay for Ralf Schumacher. They could get a much better driver with the money they pay for Ralf. I think Jarno Trulli is a faster driver than Ralf but get pay less. That is not right. I hope Toyota will not renew Ralf's contract.

cyber_carl

gues its now time for him to make a career move

SupraCoup3

Wasn't button in 2nd in that final lap when his motor blew out in large fashion?

spwolf

nah, he started 1st, but dropped quickly. He was fighting for 5th with Willams and his engine went up in smokes maybe 30m before end of race.

SupraCoup3

my mistake I could have sworn it was a fight for 2nd!

I already knew I can't multi-task... eating pizza and watching F1 at the same time classifies I guess!


It will be nice to see how this Toyota shakeup works out... the next race is in 17 days

mmarshall

Mr Johnson brought up a point about this guy being an a ** and hard to deal with. I wouldn't bet the monthly rent on actually seeing him go....especially if he doesn't accept the suspensions and refuses to leave. Who is going to actually force him out ?
It's one thing to SAY someone like this is suspended or fired...quite another to make it stick, especially when you got a tiger by the tail.

Mr Johnson

As of today the suspension has been change to a "he gone!"

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