GERMANY: Williams will switch to Toyota engines next season.
- 00:02:57
- ITN Source
GERMANY: Williams will switch to Toyota engines next season.
Former champions Williams will switch to Toyota engines next season in a three-year deal they believe can take them back to the top in Formula One. "For the future, we must always take a long term view, we believed and confirm that Toyota is our partner going into the future", team boss Frank Williams told Reuters on Thursday (July 27). Williams, who are powered by privately-owned Cosworth this season after separating from BMW, said they would use the same specification engines as Toyota's own team. "We just bring an improvement to the team", Williams driver Nico Rosberg told Reuters. "In one sense, it is very good, because the resources that Toyota has, are amazing and over the long term, I think, that is very good to be a part of that." The 21-year-old newcomer from Germany added: "They are pushing amazingly hard to achieve something in Formula One. So, I think, being part of that is a very good step for the team." The long-awaited announcement, before Sunday's German Grand Prix, will mean the end of Toyota's current agreement with uncompetitive tail-enders Midland. Williams, owned 70 percent by the team boss and 30 percent by co-founder Patrick Head, have won 113 grands prix since 1979 and nine constructors' championships. Their last titles were in 1997, when Canadian Jacques Villeneuve also won the drivers' crown. Toyota entered Formula One in 2002 but have yet to win a grand prix despite having one of the biggest budgets in the sport. Williams are currently eighth in the constructors' standings with 10 points while Toyota are fifth with 21. While Williams remain an independent team, the engine agreement marks their return to the manufacturers' fold -- seen as a pre-requisite for success in Formula One -- and could lead to greater cooperation with Toyota in future. The seven times world champion, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, who has yet to announce whether he is retiring or continuing in 2007, arrives at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim 17 points adrift of Renault's Fernando Alonso with seven races remaining. Sunday's race is the 30th German Grand Prix at Hockenheim since the first in 1970. Of those, Williams have won nine times, Ferrari eight and McLaren five. Williams, who have also nine poles and nine fastest laps at the circuit, can claim to be the most successful team at Hockenheim.
ITN Source | July 28, 2006
