Highlights

Toyota still hoping for first F1 win this season

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-07-05 11:50

LONDON, July 3 - Toyota are still hoping for their first Formula One win this season after Italian Jarno Trulli finished fourth in Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix.

"Our pace shows that we are getting nearer to the top cars," declared team principal Tsutomu Tomita in a team review of the race at Indianapolis.

"We must now push to continue our development programme so we can catch them. We haven't given up on our aim of winning our first race this season."

Champions Renault have won seven of the season's 10 races so far with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, winner on Sunday, taking the other three.

Trulli started from the pit lane on Sunday but beat Renault's world champion Fernando Alonso while team mate Ralf Schumacher was also running ahead of the Spaniard before a wheel bearing failure.

The Japanese manufacturer has been on the podium only once this season, with Ralf finishing third in Australia.

Trulli finished second on two occasions in 2005, Toyota's best season since they entered Formula One in 2002, but has been plagued by bad luck and car failures this year.