Toyota Leaves F1

Despite earlier claiming that the team was committed to Formula One, Toyota announced today that it is quitting the series with immediate effect.

The withdrawal of the company comes just two days after tyre maker Bridgestone also announced their departure from F1 and, as Honda has already left, it means that there will be no Japanese automaker involved in the sport. It also throws the future of drivers Kazuki Nakajima and Kamui Kobayashi into doubt, although team principal Tadashi Yamashina said that he "will let Nakajima and Kobayashi race in other teams". Kobayashi in particular, who was standing in for the injured Timo Glock, has looked impressive in his outings for the team.

It is not only F1 that is seeing an exodus of Japanese automakers, however, as Suzuki and Subaru have withdrawn from the world rally championship, motorcycle maker Kawasaki has left the MotoGP series and Mitsubishi is quitting the Dakar Rally.

Although Toyota announced that they would be cutting their F1 budget, the announcement that they were quitting has come as a surprise, especially as they were recently trying to sign big-name drivers like Kimi Raikkonen. For fans of F1, however, the departure may not be such a shock. Toyota entered F1 in 2002 and, due to its very deep pockets, was tipped to become a championship challenger almost immediately. However, in 139 grands prix it has failed to win a race its best result in the constructor's championship was fourth - back in 2005.