LEWIS, TUNDRA, SOLO MERCURY

McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, last year's runner-up in Formula 1, was fined about €800 for driving over 120mph (190+km/h) in a 80mph (130km/h) zone. His Mercedes was confiscated and his license suspended.

He will be permitted to test his McLaren racer. In fact, Lewis can drive anywhere except France, where, for one month, Lewis isn't permitted behind the wheel.

Poor fella. Ironically, former F1 champion Michael Schumacher, a man widely considered to be a potential candidate for best driver ever, is under investigation for an exciting taxi ride through Munich last week. Schumi figured he could get his family to the airport faster than cab driver Tuncer Yilmax. So, that's what Schumi did, giving his family and Mr. Yilmax the ride of their lives. They made their flight, but German police don't like the fact that Michael broke the law. You're not allowed to commandeer taxicabs. Whatever.

MotorTrend has named the Toyota Tundra its truck of the year. Don't be too hard on MT for picking a truck that was just named in a recall (a recall that doesn't include any accidents or injuries). Afrer all, what truckmaker hasn't come under a recent recall?

Silly I know, but Mercury was, until recently, selling cars at Mercury-only dealerships. The last such store, Community Motor in Pennsylvania, just closed its doors. Community Motor sold new Mercury's for 57 years, but their best yearly total was way back in 1989.

Also, just minutes ago, the "35mpg by 2020" bill in the United States Congress passed and will head for the ballpoint pen of George W. Read this for more info on the bill.

WRC SERIOUSLY ALTERED

Scheduling for the 2009 World Rally Championship is sure to raise eyebrows and drop jaws. February of '09 sees rallies in Ireland and Norway followed by Cyprus in March; Portugal and Argentine in April; Italy in May; Greece and Poland in June; Finland in August; Australia in September; and ending with Spain and then Great Britain in October.

Something's missing, say ye.

Aye, 'tis indeed a mystery. Monte Carlo, home to many a racing driver; many a playboy; many a Rolls-Royce; and many a yacht, is not on the 2009 WRC schedule.



Fast forward to January 24th of 2010. That'd be day 1 of the Monte Carlo rally, the first WRC phase in 2010. Sweden, Mexico, Jordan, Turkey, New Zealand, Indonesia, Russia, Bulgaria, Germany, Japan, and France follow the rally among the rich. The 2008 season by one race - to 15 - and as you counted, '09 and '10 feature just twelve.

If you can't afford to roll amongst the high-roller but enjoy a view of the town, tune in next May 25th. Formula 1 never leaves Monaco.

ALONSO & RENAULT

He won two championships with the Renault team and finished only second with McLaren in the driver's championship. McLaren, a team accused and convicted of racing espionage this past year; a team with a very young hot-shot driver; a team with a hot-headed boss, was apparently not the team for Fernando Alonso.

So Fernando is back at Renault. He'll be paid handsomely. $50,000,000 per year is rumoured, just below the price Ferrari pays for current world champ Kimi Raikkonen. Curiously, but not surprisingly, Fernando's deal with Renault has an out-clause and a low level of obligation toward sponsors. He did, after all, prove to be a bit of a recluse this past year, struggling even to speak to teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Read other GoodCarBadCar Racing posts here

After Alonso's Renault departure, the team struggled but did come on a little stronger at the end of the '07 season. Fernando will be driving alongside Nelson Piquet Jr. Recognize the name? Nelson Sr. is a three-time world champ. His last race win was in 1991 in Canada.

NEW AUDI LE MANS VIDEO IS HONEST

Audi's latest 35-second clip profiling their Le Mans efforts says quite truthfully that, "You win Indy" and that, "You win Monaco",  but "You survice Le Mans". The gruelling 24 hour race has been owned by Audi in this century and you can't deny that the Volkswagen subsidiary knows what it takes: straight-up perserverance.

Check out the clip below to see Audi's terrifying humour at the end of the video.

LEWIS HAMILTON'S RACING BIOGRAPHY IN 3 MINUTES OF CNN VIDEO

Yesterday Lewis Hamilton became the first Englishman to win the Formula 1 championship since 1996. He is the youngest ever title holder. The race was available right here on GoodCarBadCar.net, but for the racing background of this McLaren-Mercedes superstar, check out CNN's 'Hamilton's Fast Rise' below. 

NO NEW ENGINES - F1

Ten years may pass before Formula 1's engine technology moves forward. Changes could be made after five years but only if all teams agree two years before changes would take effect.

At present, F1's engines are 2.4 litre V8's and are branded by such heady names as Ferrari, Honda, BMW, Toyota, and Mercedes, and Renault. Before the 2.4L V8, Formula 1 racers utilized 3.0L V10's, turbocharged 1.5L four-cylinder powerplants, 1.5L V12's, V6's and a variety of other formats. The current V8's can easily rev to 19,000 rpm, more than twice that of Ferrari's own F430 road car's screaming V8.

In other F1 news, McLaren is appealing the decision to leave BMW Sauber and Williams unpunished in light of fuel temperature irregularities. McLaren says they broke the rules, and the potential disqualification of Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica, and Nick Heidfeld would have vaulted Lewis Hamilton to fourth place. Had he laid hold of the points available from a fourth place finish, he'd have won the driver's championship instead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Read The Good Car Guy's instant analysis immediately following Sunday's race

Noble fella that Lewis is, he voiced his awkward feelings about possibly winning the title weeks after the Interlagos race. "For me, I want to win it on the track. You want to do it in style, you want to win the race, you want to win battling it out for the lead or something in the race. Being promoted after some people have been thrown out is not the way I want to do it," Lewis said.

"It would feel weird after Kimi did such a fantastic job in the last two races. He won and to have it taken away is a bit cruel and probably not good for the sport."

2008's F1 race schedule includes a night race in Singapore in late September, ends in Brazil just like it did this year, and forsakes American soil. Here's the schedule in detail.

• March 16 - Melbourne, Australia
• March 23 - Sepang, Malaysia
• April 6 - Sakhir, Bahrain
• April 27 - Barcelona, Spain
• May 11 - Istanbul, Turkey
• May 25 - Monaco
• June 8 - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Canada
• June 22 - Magny-Cours, France
• July 6 - Silverstone, Britain (see right)
  
• July 20 - Hockenheim, Germany
• August 3 - Hungaroring, Hungary
• August 24 - Valencia, Spain
• September 7 - Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
• September 14 - Monza, Italy
• September 28 - Singapore
• October 12 - Fuji, Japan
• October 19 - Shanghai, China
• November 2 - Interlagos, Brazil
  

CHEVROLET TO SWITCH WTCC CAR FROM LACETTI TO CRUZE

In parts of the world where the World Touring Car Championship is more than just an obscure motorsport seen by a few in the middle of the night on the web (yes, I'm talking to you... us, North America), viewers are watching the 2008 season seeing Chevrolet in third place in the team championships. They don't use a Corvette or Malibu or Silverado. The Chevrolet team in the WTCC uses a Chevrolet Lacetti.

To those in Canada, think Chevrolet Optra, Optra5, and Optra wagon. For those careful automotive watchers in America, think Suzuki Forenza and Reno. Yes, they turn it into a race car. And it does alright.

Next year, if the trio of Chevrolet drivers remains the same (Nicola Larini, Robert Huff, Alain Menu, Manabu Orido) they can expect to be driving the WTCC version of the Chevrolet Cruze. (See pictures and info on the Cruze here and here)

The Cruze will make its debut in Brazil where the two Seat Leon diesels won this season. Testing has already begun on the Cruze WTCC. In business terms, positioning the Cruze in the WTCC has much to do with what you can read about in the first Cruze link above. In 2009, for an American vehicle to be taken seriously on the world stage, motorsport really helps. Competition for the Lacetti in 2008 has included the Volvo C30, numerous BMW 3-Series sedans, Honda's European Accord, two varieties of the aforementioned Seat Leon, and the Lada 110.

TRADEGY STRIKES McRAE FAMILY & WORLD RALLY

During a conversation with a Scottish friend on Sunday night, we were discussing his most recent purchase. He replaced his previous-gen Audi A6 Allroad with a great new car, sure to please the family - Audi's A6 Allroad. We actually began the conversation by discussing www.goodcarbadcar.blogspot.com and then moved on to his recent automotive change.

The weather was horrible here recently but strangely, we, the Good Car Couple spent our time out-of-home. We didn't come across the news regarding an old World Rally Championship star, nor did the North American media bring much attention to a recent tragedy. But when my Scottish friend was closing our conversation, he mentioned that, "We lost one of our national heroes yesterday." I nodded; the only images coming to mind were that of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace, in reality Angus MacFadyen and Mel Gibson. But then he cleared things up, "Colin McRae died in a helicopter crash. To make matters worse, he had his 5-year old boy with him."

Apparently Colin was piloting and there were yet two more passengers. Son Johnny and his friend, Ben, and another family friend, Graeme Duncan, also perished. Mcrae was 39, his son 5, Ben Porcelli was 6 and Duncan was 37 years old. Condolences can be found here.

Mr. Banks, my Scottish friend, was the same age as Colin and grew up in the same area. Both became successful men on very different career paths, McRae obviously so. The loss of a rally star stings the Scots like the loss of a Ferrari F1 star would hurt Italy. The tenor of our conversation was obviously changed. Add to this the loss of former WRC champ and Englishman Richard Burns, who together with Colin McRae formed the upper echelon of the world's rally drivers at one time. Burns died at the age of 34 just two years ago as a result of a brain tumor. His death also received limited attention, both in North America and in Europe, because of the simultaneous death of soccer great George Best of Northern Ireland. Best was just 59 years old.

Irony strikes at every possible moment. McRae was both infamous and famous for driving on the edge, frequently resulting in wild crashes. But it wasn't a crash at X-Games this past summer that would cause his death; no, not in the rough and tumble Safari Rally Kenya or the vicious Acropolis Rally of Greece. It was in a helictopter.


I am known now as The Good Car Guy. But there are times, however brief or long, when I don't care about Audi Allroads or any other good cars. A little respect for the family then. Life, at best, is very brief.

MCLAREN'S BOYS APPEAR HAPPIER IN THIS BENZ ADVERT

Fernando Alonso, fresh off two Drivers titles in Formula 1, switched from Renault to McLaren Mercedes for 2007. Joining him on the team was rookie Lewis Hamilton, who just happened to stand on the podium after each of the first nine races. He has won three races (Canada, US, Hungary) and leads the standings, with Alonso only three points behind. After controversies in the pits in Hungary and the ever-growing scandal regarding McLaren's espionage strategy, it's safe to assume the tension in the paddock doesn't lend to commercial filming. But, at one time, the boys had fun. Here's the result.... With a little Mika Hakkinen (2-time World Champ for McLaren) thrown in for good measure. Enjoy.

NASCAR CHEATERS GET FINED

Two Joe Gibbs Racing crew chiefs were suspended. And fined.

Five more employees were suspended. Indefinitely.

Two racers were stripped of points. 150 points.

Now for more detail. Tony Stewart and Joey Legano lost 150 points as a result of attempts to manipulate a horsepower test after a Nationwide race last weekend. Those in charge of the cars, crew chiefs Jason Ratliff and Dave Rogers, will be forced to hand out $50,000 each. The ex-NFL coach and owner of the team, Joe Gibbs, says he'll be hand out his own fines and leave the crew members out of the working loop until at least the end of the season.

The admissions of guilt were truly and unmistakably full of remorse. "I apologize to the men and women of NASCAR for my dishonesty and interference during a testing event," said Ratcliff. Rogers said he "makes no excuses." Added Gibbs: "100 per cent of the blame rests with us."

Evidence in this case was found near the driver's feet, magnets that were meant to hide just how many horsepower were being generated by the Toyota engines. These engines were already trimmed of about 15 horsepower last month. Apparently the engineers wanted that zip back. Hopefully the team's jet passes inspection.

THE WEEK THAT WAS - Ford, true green, F1, Porsche still sells 911's?

Plenty of news in automobiledom, so let's hit it.

Even as Ford Motor Company's engines go hi-tech in cars like the '09 Lincoln MKS, engine availability will dwindle on Ford's best-seller, the F150. The '09 F140 may not have a V6, diesel, or big V8 when the F150 debuts. Ford (and the media) have played up the next Boss/Hurricane 6.2L 8-cylinder, so its absence would be felt. Powerplants may not impress, but much of the vehicle will be all new - including the already impressive interiors. Lincoln's flagship MKS may well be introduced with a direct injected, twin turbocharged engine for 2009.....


The German tag-team has good news. Porsche has set a sales record for its iconic 911, measured in its own fiscal year ending this month. Requirements to set a new record? Beat last year's total, which was the current record holder. Around 36,000 Porsche 911's will have been built from last August 1st through July 31st. Model permutations are plenteous and, as always, powerful. Meanwhile, Volkswagen has seen 25% growth in Chinese VW sales, with over 430,000 units in the first 6 months of this year. With its recent heavy investment in its Pueblo, Mexico factory ($40million, if you're asking), VW should be able to build 450,000 cars there each year. China thus sees a new Passat variant, and Mexico receives a face-lifted Jetta, which was borne along by Volkswagen's Chinese connections at FAW. Mexico's Jetta is our old Jetta, their Bora is our current Jetta.....

Alert the press - Press has spoken. The President of Toyota in North America has spoken boldly. "Eventually, everything will be a hybrid," and, "The Prius is the forerunner.... It's going to be like the Model T when you look back." Jim Press is a cool guy who likes cars, and Toyota is the hybrid king, builder of 3/5ths of all hybrids sold in the States. But tone down the rhetoric a little, Jimbo. Big words cause big letdowns by times.....

Next year's Formula 1 race at Indianapolis is - oh, wait a second.... There is no F1 race at Indy in 2008. It's a no go. No show. The deadline for reaching a deal has come and gone. A few debacles and a few great performances later, one of the world's greatest raceways bids farewell, even if it is just temporarily.....

Green comes in so many shades. Ford says that their move to equip the '08 Mustang with soybean-based foam cushions could eventually save thousands of barrels of oil. Commonly, seats use petroleum-based foam for vehicle seating. The benefits are threefold: 24% renewable content, reduced C02 emissions, and less energy used in the first place. Ford's Model T had 60 pounds worth of soy in its paint and plastic.....

www.mercedes-benz.tv is cool, and brand-spankin' new..... Infiniti is now officially competing for China's luxury-car buyer's hard earned $.... Land Rover could well set a sales record this year. The first half of the year saw 9% growth. 194,000 Range Rovers, LR3's, RR Sports, Freelanders and even some Defenders came out of Solihull last year.... Despite my vote for the Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG, an armoured Bentley Turbo R has taken hold of Car&Driver's poll for your preferential vehicle for the world's dying days. The Benz is in second place with 17% of the vote at this time. A Touareg V10 TDI wouldn't be a bad choice, as a tenth of the voters have claimed. FJ Cruisers, Jeep Wranglers and Hummers are in amongst the mid-pack. Not many days ago, 53% of responders said that the latest Subaru Impreza had a face only a mother could love. See GCBC's take here.

CORVETTE ZR1 IS FASTER THAN NISSAN GT-R AFTER ALL?

GoodCarBadCar.net's Good Car Guy was one of many who reported on the approximate laptime of the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 back in early May. It was known by then that Nissan's remarkable GT-R could loop the Nurburgring in 7:29. Unfortunately for 'Vette engineers, their second digit was a 3. Uh-oh.

(Necessary background reading at this post and in the links found therein)

Hadn't the chief engineer suggested that his baby, the 638bhp ZR1, would outlap any production car on any track? Was this embarrassing; or purely just another underestimator of the Nissan GT-R? 

Neither. Now that the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 has had a proper lap around the Nurburgring, General Motors can reveal its might. 

7:26.4 sounds niiice. We await the Nissan GT-R Spec V to watch the 7:26.4 time fall by the wayside.

DALE EARNHARDT JR.'s FUEL EFFICIENCY

Nascar is about the last place you'd expect to find talk of climate change, green energy, or positive attention paid to eco-habits. But Dale Earnhardt Jr. snapped his 76-race winless streak at the Michigan International Speedway's LifeLock 400 by thinking outside of the box - and even a little bit off the track.

While struggling to even configure methods to take a run at the full slate of laps, Junior made use of the inner-most circle while a caution flag was out. What's more; he even shut off the Chevrolet's engine and coasted, followed by another shutdown and restart. 

Smart thinking saves the day. Junior coasted across the finish line without enough gas to even make it to victory lane. With teammates lending a shove, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the trophy on Father's Day, seven years and four months since his father's death. Check out the final action in the YouTube clip below.

AUDI WINS 24 HOURS OF LE MANS

Despite qualifying 1-2-3, Peugeot was unable to claim victory in Le Mans, France this weekend. Audi took the title for the fifth straight time and the eighth time since year 2000. Peugeot managed to snab the next two spots on the podium, but Audi also drove to 4th and 6th positions.

In the GTI class, Aston Martin's DB9 racer took the crown; the more experienced Corvette team driving to 2nd and 3rd. A Ferrari F430 drove to 1st place in the GT2 class.

CADILLAC CTS-v ROARS 'ROUND 'RING VIDEO

Huge horsepower has never been in doubt. To be honest, after driving a more common CTS last fall, the ride and handling potential of the Cadillac CTS-v wasn't really in doubt either. So when reports surfaced last week that the CTS-v may have posted the best ever Nurburgring laptime for a production sedan, few commentators could have been surprised. Video of said lap is now available. Press play.

CADILLAC CTS-v ROARS 'ROUND 'RING

Topspeed.com has reports of a 7:59.32 around the Nurburgring. This is quite a feat for a production sedan, certainly for anything wearing the Caddy badge. Apparently, Cadillac.GMblogs.com will soon have video of the CTS-v's lap. evo magazine's Jethro Bovingdon has been tweaking and tuning an older BMW M3 GT for a number of months in hope of a sub-8 minute lap around the Ring. Last I checked, he hadn't succeeded.

Then again, Nissan has taken the GT-R to a 7:29 lap. The CTS-v is a real looker and the base car already showed great potential. The Good Car Guy discovered that on General Motors' test track in Michigan. Further to the CTS-v's lap is one GM engineer's belief that the new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 will beat any production car on any track. The fact that GM's speed division achieved a 7:59 with a CTS makes that statement almost believable.

Nurburg is home to one of the world's most famous racetracks, 13-miles of the most demanding tarmac on Earth. Formula 1 Grand Prix's have run on a separate section than that used by automaker testing since the older portion was deemed far too dangerous. You could hope for a quick time around the 73 or so turns for 21 euros.

AGGRESSIVE COROLLA DRIVERS

We are stereotyping beings. "Government workers never do any work." That kind of thinking is rampant. "Redheads all have tempers." You know how it is.

I have some car-related stereotypes. Certain groups of people do tend to purchase certain kinds of cars. While walking across the crosswalk down our street a few days ago, with the WALK sign lit, I noticed at about the halfway point that a dark-coloured Toyota Corolla was not seeing us or 'her' red light. Yes, I instinctively spoke of the driver (as we paused at the median in fear) as a she. Sorry.

But I was right. She was on her cell phone, and looked a little bouncy with the music. Brakes gave a little squeal and the car gave a short slide toward our shins. She was not aware.

A lack of awareness does not pertain to my previous stereotypes of Corolla drivers. The stereotype involved a girl like this one, likely named Jen, who hasn't an ounce of enthusiasm for the automobile and about as much respect for the road and other cars. She's on her way to pick up Gabi who drives a 3-year old Cavalier but yearns to own a Corolla. They're going to the beach, but have no intention of going in the water. They might splurge and buy french fries, but I can't imagine they'd dare to eat them all for fear of not being able to wear a bikini next time out.

That's so cruel and oh so not true. Especially in light of news from South Africa, where on the N1 highway near Johannesburg six men were arrested for driving a little too quickly. Six men in six cars, the fastest clocked at 229 km/h, the slowest at 181 km/h. In between were cars at 192 km/h, 188, and 182.

Vehicles involved were made by Mercedes (no model specified), a Volkswagen Jetta and a Polo GTI, a BMW with no specified nomenclature, an Opel Corsa, and.... get this, a Toyota Corolla.

Now, driving dangerously is not condoned by The Good Car Guy or GCBC. However, I think this is actually a good thing for Corolla's reputation. Kinda like Martha Stewart going to jail, it only brought more attention to her person and empire.

Excuses came out of three men's mouths, one regarding taking his son to the hospital. Another said he had to take some people home who lived a fair distance, and another's wife was at home - pregnant - and in labour. All six men paid fines, were released, and were to appear in court.

Unfortunately, even as the Corolla garners a touch of coolness for being caught doing something real drivers do, it loses a touch of that cool factor for being the slowest of the six.

Nevertheless, the stereotypes I previously held must now be surrendered. Forever laid down at the feet - and on the monitor - of the Good Car Nation.


---- Notes: Mercury Topaz's have been tested at speeds of 180 km/h. Does that make the 'iconic' Topaz kinda cool?

SUPER AGURI OUT OF F1

Money is so much easier to find when you're winning. Ask Ferrari, Sidney Crosby, or Chris Paul. But don't ask Super Aguri.

Super Aguri has little idea of how success feels in Formula 1 racing. Read about their results from the Spanish Grand Prix, Bahrain Grand Prix, Malaysian Grand Prix, and the Australian Grand Prix to see how far back in the pack Super Aguri finished. 

To those not accustomed to racing norms, especially that of F1, are likely surprised and disgusted. Imagine the Montreal Expos or Minnesota Twins troubles from a few seasons back ending in June. "Yep, season's over, boys. Pack up your gear and head home. We can't pay you." In fact, last I checked, Safari failed to open http://www.saf1.co.jp/en/

In Super Aguri's case, Honda can't continue financially supporting Aguri Suzuki's team. Sponsorship from SS United Oil & Gas Company didn't pan out. And, as already mentioned, race results hadn't come around after two years. This exit leaves 10 teams and 20 cars in Formula 1 for the remaining fourteen races.

NISSAN GT-R AT THE 'RING

As if attempting to prove the notion that the twin-turbo V6 in their GT-R supercoupe generates more than the stated horsepower, and to further the cause of all-wheel drive, and to add to the cred of their ride & handling engineers.... (breathe), Nissan gat themselves a 7:29 time at the famed Nurburgring. Read about the iconic location here.

Can I get a witness? Nissan's GT-R time puts it ahead of its most obvious competitor, the Porsche 911. Aye, 7:29 is faster than a 911 GT3, 911 Turbo, or 911 GT2. In fact, the GT-R's time of seven minutes and twenty nine seconds is three seconds up on Porsche's Carrera GT. 

Watch SuperCar Movies clip of the Pagani Zonda at the 'Ring

While the bulk of those cars are priced over $100,000 (and some over $200K or $300K), the GT-R battles on the cost-meter with the Ford Shelby GT500KR. Yeah, a Mustang. Chevrolet's chief engineer on the Corvette ZR1 had suggested quite some time ago that his car would outlap any production car on any track, but the ZR1's approximate time in the high 7:30s necessitates some retracting.  

Watch Opel's little Corsa OPC cruise the 'Ring

... or find the Top 5 Nurburgring YouTube clips here

Bring up 'Ring times with manufacturers and you'll hear lots of talk about what constitutes a good day in Nuburg. Weather, track temperature, production ready or off-the-factory-line... all sorts of stuff. Discuss the same matter with tuners and you'll be presented with multiple vehicles that can make a 911 GT2 look silly; as the discussion turns to the constitution of a production car. 

For now, recognize this: the Nissan GT-R is stupid fast.

TOYOTA CAN LOSE AT SOMETHING

Tsutomu Tomita is clearly quite sick of losing. Tomita works for Toyota. And there are not many employees of the new number 1 auto-seller in the world who have a problem with losing. Toyota, as an auto-seller, does not lose.

Toyota, as a Formula 1 race team, loses every race. First race : 2002 Australian Grand Prix. Recent race: 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix. 91 total races, 2 pole positions, 155 team points, but never once a race win. To state the obvious, Toyota, without even a race win, has never won the Constructor's Championship nor have their drivers ever won a Driver's Championship.

Put it this way: send 91 people into a Toyota dealership in, say... Ottawa. How many come out with a car? Paaaaahlenty. Send 91 races in Toyota's direction, how many conquests? Zero.

Something doesn't add up. This massive Japanese manufacturer with three sub-brands, an overriding belief in its dependability, its loyal workforce and the largest cash reserves amongst all carmakers, can't win a race. Not only are those cash reserves the largest, they've used up hundreds of millions of dollars of those cash reserves to finance an F1 program that has never won a race. The $ figure is higher than any other competitor in F1, more than Ferrari; McLaren-Mercedes; or BMW.

So Tsutomu Tomita will leave for a different posting in the Toyota corporate structure, leaving behind his F1 Chief job at Toyota for another part of the company that is, perhaps, more dominant. It is not fun to lose. Especially when you're under pressure, work harder, and spend more.

Toyota does, however, have other laurels on which to rest.