Toyota TF101
Encyclopedia
The Toyota TF101 was a Formula One car used solely for testing purposes during the 2001 season, in preparation for the team's full scale assault on the series in 2002. The car was designed by Toyota F1's
chief of chassis Jean-Claude Martens and was driven by Mika Salo
and Allan McNish
. The TF101 was unofficially called the "AM01" by Toyota until the name of its successor, the TF102
was announced.
, Germany over a period of nineteen months, in preparation for Toyota's assault on Formula One in 2002. After the initial unveiling of the car, the test team, including drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish took on an intensive testing programme, accumilating a total of 3,000 laps and 22,967 km at eleven F1 circuits around the world, and also the specialist testing facility at Paul Ricard
in Southern France.
During the development of the car, the initial designer André de Cortanze was replaced by Austrian Gustav Brunner
and he oversaw the continued development of the car, eventually molding the TF102
car, the team's debut racegoing machine based on the work done during the 2001 season.
Toyota F1
Panasonic Toyota Racing was a Formula One team owned by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota and based in Cologne, Germany. Toyota announced their plans to participate in F1 in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002...
chief of chassis Jean-Claude Martens and was driven by Mika Salo
Mika Salo
Mika Juhani Salo is a Finnish racing driver. He competed in Formula One between and . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans....
and Allan McNish
Allan McNish
Allan McNish is a Scottish racing driver. He is a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most recently in 2008, and two-time American Le Mans Series champion.- Early life :...
. The TF101 was unofficially called the "AM01" by Toyota until the name of its successor, the TF102
Toyota TF102
The Toyota TF102 was the car with which the Toyota team competed in the 2002 Formula One season, the team's inaugural Championship campaign. The car reflected the results of a year's testing in 2001 with the TF101, and was designed primarily by Gustav Brunner and Dago Rohrer...
was announced.
Development
The car was designed and built from the ground up by the staff at Toyota Motorsports GmbH (TMG) in CologneCologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany over a period of nineteen months, in preparation for Toyota's assault on Formula One in 2002. After the initial unveiling of the car, the test team, including drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish took on an intensive testing programme, accumilating a total of 3,000 laps and 22,967 km at eleven F1 circuits around the world, and also the specialist testing facility at Paul Ricard
Circuit Paul Ricard
The Paul Ricard Circuit is a motorsport race track built at Le Castellet, near Marseille, France, in 1969 with finance from the eccentric drinks magnate Paul Ricard, who created what essentially became Pernod Ricard...
in Southern France.
During the development of the car, the initial designer André de Cortanze was replaced by Austrian Gustav Brunner
Gustav Brunner
Gustav Brunner is an Austrian Formula One designer and engineer. He was born on 12 September 1950 , and got his start in racing car design at the German-based constructor McNamara. He first entered F1 in a brief spell working for the ATS team in 1978, before designing cars for Formula Two and...
and he oversaw the continued development of the car, eventually molding the TF102
Toyota TF102
The Toyota TF102 was the car with which the Toyota team competed in the 2002 Formula One season, the team's inaugural Championship campaign. The car reflected the results of a year's testing in 2001 with the TF101, and was designed primarily by Gustav Brunner and Dago Rohrer...
car, the team's debut racegoing machine based on the work done during the 2001 season.