According to Spyker guru Mike Gascoyne, Toyota and Honda are struggling to make their mark on the World of Formula 1 because of ‘Japanese corporate culture’. Toyota have been in F1 for nearly six seasons and have never really lived up to their expectations, having yet to win a Grand Prix. Honda are currently struggling for form and are languishing well behind the current front runners.
“It is undoubtedly part of the problem,” Gascoyne began. “They have each tried to do it the Japanese way, with lots of bureaucracy and control from Japan. And it is not working.”
Gascoyne is not alone in these thoughts. Former Jordan Technical Director Gary Anderson has echoed Gascoyne’s feelings by saying that he felt the officials in Japan were ‘cut off’ from the reality of F1 when Honda were supplying engines to the now defunct team. “They could not get to grips with the fact that things were going wrong,” Anderson stated.
Gascoyne finished up by saying that the blame did not lie with the drivers. “Those who do so simply do not understand the nature of the relationship between drivers and technicians.”
