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Howett: value for Toyota money needed this season

cdn11Toyota motorsport president John Howett has implied that his bosses expect results from their investments this season. Following the online launch of the TF109, the Cologne-based team s latest effort, Howett spoke of how the future of the team depended on F1 s value for money in 2009.

Commercially this team has a very strong future. The key issue is whether Formula One continues to deliver the value and return on investment that Toyota expects, the Englishman is quoted as saying by autosport.com.

The ambiguous nature of his words signify Howett s support for the cost-cutting measures agreed on in December, but also puts pressure on his team to deliver results in the upcoming season. Howett added that everybody at the team was ready to show improvement on the track.

The new regulations pose an extra challenge but at the same time offer an opportunity. We have everything we need to win; we have some exceptionally talented people and huge motivation to succeed so now it is down to us to actually make it happen .

Howett remains confident that the cost reduction agreements of December have preserved the technical innovation side of the sport.

If…too many standard components are forced into the system, Formula One could become just another racing series. That would leave it as only a sponsorship opportunity and I believe interest would drop rapidly. But FOTA has achieved significant cost reductions while retaining the DNA of Formula One .

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