Ralf Schumacher has uncharacteristically fired a round of criticism at Toyota, as he admitted that the Cologne based team is set to have a “difficult start” to 2007.
Referring to the lacklustre form of the Japanese giant’s ‘TF107’ contender in winter testing, the German said: “We have had a catastrophic preparation for this season.”
Schumacher, 31, is referring to the fact that, alongside Red Bull, Toyota’s Melbourne pace is likely to be quicker only than backmarkers Super Aguri, Toro Rosso and Spyker.
Not only is the car failing to generate enough grip in the corners, it is falling well short of its manufacturer backed rivals in the speed traps. It is also unreliable.
“There is a gap to the front that we must now work hard to close,” Ralf told Auto Bild.
“There is no point trying to hide it; in all probability we are going to have a difficult start to the season.”
Toyota, with arguably the biggest budget in pit lane, will test for the last time before Australia this week at Jerez.
Schumacher admitted: “I would be looking forward to the season more if we had fewer problems to solve.”
