At 11:30 this morning in the pit lane at Circuit Paul Ricard, the long-awaited TS050 from Toyota was finally revealed. The presentation was simple but effective, the Japanese constructor adopting a restrained approach after a difficult 2015 season and some very disappointing sporting results. It was a tough experience for Toshio Sato’s men but they are back with a brand new car ready to put their misfortunes behind them. Desperate times call for desperate measures and the team’s engine and chassis engineers started out with a clean sheet this time.

The new concept emerged from the realisation that the options selected last season had become obsolete and that the power delivered by the naturally-aspirated V8 engine was no longer enough to keep up with Porsche. The decision was made to move up to the 8 megajoule class with a new twin-turbo 2.4-litre V6 combined with the twin-axle kinetic energy-retrieval systems. The engine architecture was defined by head of the hybrid project Hisatake Murata. Meanwhile Technical Director Pascal Vasselon set to work with his teams. We defined the ideal lap time that would put us back in the game, the Frenchman explained. We tried to anticipate the car’s requirements so we could get as close as possible to the target. We worked out the requirements in terms of drive unit cooling and aerodynamics, and with regard to weight saving so we could build in the heavier drive unit, and we came to the logical conclusion that we also needed a brand new chassis. 

So nothing remains of last year’s TS040, not a single nut or bolt having survived the uncompromising audit conducted by the Cologne-based team. There may be a slight family resemblance but the TS050 has its own distinctive looks, with its rear end significantly overhauled. The most visible difference is, of course, the new red, white and black livery that recalls the marque’s historical racing colours. A strong signal reflected in some equally strong words from Toyota Motorsport GmbH president Toshio Sato: There is no way we are going back to 2015!

Audi and Porsche have been warned!