Toyota team boss Tadashi Yamashina has played down reports that Tokyo officials have given the Japanese team only two more years to succeed in formula one.
He revealed recently that “I have been given two more years” to deliver success for the Cologne based squad, but now denies that he was referring to Toyota’s very participation in the sport.
“My words were misinterpreted,” Yamashina told the Italian magazine Autosprint.
“When I mentioned the two-year deadline to get results, it wasn’t an ultimatum, I wasn’t referring to Toyota’s presence in F1, I was talking about the extent of my appointment,” he explained.
Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher scored just 13 points in 2007.
Team president John Howett also denies that Toyota’s disappointing results so far, despite its impressive annual budget, has endangered the team’s future in F1.
“Having signed the Concorde Agreement, we are in it at least until 2012,” the Briton said.
“We never received deadlines from Japan regarding the next two years,” he added.
