Toyota TF104
Encyclopedia
The Toyota TF104 was a Formula One car used by the Toyota F1
team during the 2004 Formula One season
.
The car was the third and final Gustav Brunner
designed Toyota in Formula One, and it was considered as another "evolutionary step" up from its predecessor the TF103
, which in turn had been labelled a "evolutionary step" up from the TF102
used in 2002.
The car was initially driven by the same pairing as in 2003; Olivier Panis
and Cristiano da Matta
. However by the time the season came to a conclusion, both drivers had been replaced by Italy's Jarno Trulli
and the team's Brazilian ex-test driver Ricardo Zonta
respectively.
This continued approach was deemed to be too unambitious by many critics and this was confirmed by the overall performance of the car. Ultimately, this led to Brunner's dismissal mid-way through the season and it was the former Jordan
and Renault
Technical Director Mike Gascoyne
who came in to replace him.
Known for his ability to assess weaknesses, and re-invigorate a team, Gascoyne started work immediately on revising the TF104.
chassis to be used in the 2005 Formula One season
.
soon followed having been blamed himself for lacklustre performances.
With the arrival of Mike Gascoyne as technical director, alongside the announcements of Jarno Trulli
and Ralf Schumacher
for 2005
it could be argued that the Toyota F1 operation took on a slightly different feel over the course of the 2004 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...
team during the 2004 Formula One season
2004 Formula One season
The 2004 Formula One season was the 55th FIA Formula One World Championship season, running from March 7 to October 24, 2004. The season was dominated by Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro...
.
The car was the third and final 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...
designed Toyota in Formula One, and it was considered as another "evolutionary step" up from its predecessor the TF103
Toyota TF103
The Toyota TF103 was the Gustav Brunner designed machine with which the Toyota F1 team competed in the 2003 Formula One season. Unveiled on January 8, 2003 at the Paul Ricard circuit, its drivers were the Frenchman Olivier Panis and Brazilian Cristiano da Matta, the reigning CART FedEx Championship...
, which in turn had been labelled a "evolutionary step" up from 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...
used in 2002.
The car was initially driven by the same pairing as in 2003; Olivier Panis
Olivier Panis
Olivier Panis is a French racing driver. Panis is best known in F1 not only as a test driver for the McLaren team but for his win at the eventful Monaco Grand Prix in 1996 for the Ligier team after starting 14th...
and Cristiano da Matta
Cristiano da Matta
Cristiano Monteiro da Matta is an auto racing driver, winner of the American CART Championship in 2002, and former Formula One driver with the Toyota team.-Origins and early career:...
. However by the time the season came to a conclusion, both drivers had been replaced by Italy's Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert...
and the team's Brazilian ex-test driver Ricardo Zonta
Ricardo Zonta
Ricardo Luiz Zonta is a Brazilian racing driver.-Early career:Born in Curitiba, Brazil, Zonta began karting in 1987, winning his first race shortly thereafter. The following year, he was runner-up for the Curitiba Karting Championship, and in 1991, he won the title...
respectively.
Development
Development on the car had begun in earnest, some ten months prior to its unveiling. Upon launch, designer Gustav Brunner said; "The TF103 was a highly competitive package. Unfortunately, we couldn't get all of the performance out of it. Theoretically, the TF104 is an evolutionary step up from the TF103, but in fact, the TF104 shares not a single part that we used with the TF103. We improved every single inch of the chassis, and redesigned every important internal component. We achieved a great leap ahead aerodynamically, made the car lighter overall, and increased the rigidity of the chassis".This continued approach was deemed to be too unambitious by many critics and this was confirmed by the overall performance of the car. Ultimately, this led to Brunner's dismissal mid-way through the season and it was the former Jordan
Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan...
and Renault
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
Technical Director Mike Gascoyne
Mike Gascoyne
Michael "Mike" Gascoyne is a designer of Formula One cars. He is currently the Chief Technical Officer of Team Lotus....
who came in to replace him.
Known for his ability to assess weaknesses, and re-invigorate a team, Gascoyne started work immediately on revising the TF104.
TF104B
The resulting TF104B chassis couldn't be considered revolutionary either, but neither was it supposed to be with Gascoyne merely working to try to eradicate some of the initial conceptual flaws in the Brunner design. The revised car was introduced at the German Grand Prix to some positive effect, but rather than continue on that upward trend, Gascoyne ordered the freezing of any further development to concentrate on the upcoming TF105Toyota TF105
The Toyota TF105/105B was a Formula One car for the 2005 Formula One season. It was designed by Mike Gascoyne. The year was statistically the team's most successful, with 88 points, five podium positions and a fastest lap...
chassis to be used in the 2005 Formula One season
2005 Formula One season
The 2005 Formula One season was the 56th FIA Formula One World Championship season, contested over a record 19 Grands Prix. It commenced on March 6, 2005, and ended October 16....
.
Performance
Overall the car and the season was considered to be a disaster, with the team, now in its third season of competition managing only a second consecutive eighth place Constructors Championship finish. The ramifications of the car's poor performance reared its ugly head with some key departures; technical director Gustav Brunner was fired mid-season and Cristiano da MattaCristiano da Matta
Cristiano Monteiro da Matta is an auto racing driver, winner of the American CART Championship in 2002, and former Formula One driver with the Toyota team.-Origins and early career:...
soon followed having been blamed himself for lacklustre performances.
With the arrival of Mike Gascoyne as technical director, alongside the announcements of Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert...
and Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher is a German racing driver, and the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher...
for 2005
2005 Formula One season
The 2005 Formula One season was the 56th FIA Formula One World Championship season, contested over a record 19 Grands Prix. It commenced on March 6, 2005, and ended October 16....
it could be argued that the Toyota F1 operation took on a slightly different feel over the course of the 2004 season.
Complete Formula One results
(results in bold indicate pole position)| Year | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 2004 Formula One season The 2004 Formula One season was the 55th FIA Formula One World Championship season, running from March 7 to October 24, 2004. The season was dominated by Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro... |
Toyota V10 V10 engine A V10 engine is a V engine with 10 cylinders in two banks of five with a distinct exhaust note.- Mechanics :The V10 is essentially the result of mating two even-firing straight-5 engines together. The straight-5 engine shows first and second order rocking motion... |
AUS 2004 Australian Grand Prix The 2004 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 7 March 2004 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. Michael Schumacher won the race for Ferrari from pole position in a very dominant fashion, with his team-mate Rubens Barrichello finishing behind him in second. This one-two finish gave... |
MAL | BHR 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix The 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on April 4, 2004 at the Bahrain International Circuit. It was the first Formula One race to be held in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the Middle East.__FORCETOC__- Qualifying :-Race:-Notes:... |
SMR 2004 San Marino Grand Prix The 2004 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on April 25, 2004 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola.__FORCETOC__-Report:... |
ESP 2004 Spanish Grand Prix The 2004 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 9, 2004 at the Circuit de Catalunya.__FORCETOC__- Incident :During the warm-up lap of the race, a man calling himself Jimmy Jump ran through the starting grid, only to be apprehended soon by the security... |
MON 2004 Monaco Grand Prix The 2004 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 23, 2004 at the Circuit de Monaco.__FORCETOC__-Summary:One of the most eventful races of the 2004 season, the Monaco Grand Prix saw Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher qualify in fourth place... |
EUR 2004 European Grand Prix The 2004 European Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 30, 2004 at the Nürburgring.__FORCETOC__- Qualifying :-Race:- Notes :* Lap Leaders: Michael Schumacher 53 , Fernando Alonso 1 , Takuma Sato 2 and Rubens Barrichello 4 - Standings after the race :Drivers' Championship... |
CAN 2004 Canadian Grand Prix The 2004 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on June 13, 2004 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.It was won by Michael Schumacher, with teammate Rubens Barrichello second, making for a 1-2 finish for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro as part of a season where Ferrari took the most wins of the... |
USA 2004 United States Grand Prix The 2004 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on June 20, 2004 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana.... |
FRA 2004 French Grand Prix The 2004 French Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on July 4, 2004 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. This race has become famous for a 4 stop strategy used by Michael Schumacher to beat Fernando Alonso's Renault.__FORCETOC__- Qualifying :-Race:... |
GBR 2004 British Grand Prix The 2004 British Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 11 July 2004 at the Silverstone Circuit.__FORCETOC__- Qualifying :-Race:- Notes :* Lap Leaders: Kimi Räikkönen 11 and Michael Schumacher 49... |
GER | HUN 2004 Hungarian Grand Prix The 2004 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on August 15, 2004 at the Hungaroring.__FORCETOC__- Qualifying :-Race:- Notes :* Lap Leaders: Michael Schumacher 70... |
BEL 2004 Belgian Grand Prix The 2004 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on August 29, 2004 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was at this race that Michael Schumacher won his seventh world championship despite Kimi Räikkönen taking his and McLaren's only race win of the season from tenth place on the grid... |
ITA | CHN 2004 Chinese Grand Prix The 2004 Chinese Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 26 September 2004 at the Shanghai International Circuit. It was the first Formula One race to be held in China.__FORCETOC__-Friday Drivers:- Qualifying :-Race:-Notes:... |
JPN 2004 Japanese Grand Prix The 2004 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 10, 2004 at the Suzuka Circuit. All the running on Saturday was cancelled due to Typhoon Ma-on, meaning that both the qualifying sessions were run on Sunday morning... |
BRA | 9 | 8th | ||
 Cristiano da MattaCristiano da Matta Cristiano Monteiro da Matta is an auto racing driver, winner of the American CART Championship in 2002, and former Formula One driver with the Toyota team.-Origins and early career:... |
12 | 9 | 10 | Ret | 13 | 6 | Ret | DSQ | Ret | 14 | 13 | Ret | |||||||||||
 Olivier PanisOlivier Panis Olivier Panis is a French racing driver. Panis is best known in F1 not only as a test driver for the McLaren team but for his win at the eventful Monaco Grand Prix in 1996 for the Ligier team after starting 14th... |
13 | 12 | 9 | 11 | Ret | 8 | 11 | DSQ | 5 | 15 | Ret | 14 | 11 | 8 | Ret | 14 | 14 | ||||||
| Ricardo Zonta Ricardo Zonta Ricardo Luiz Zonta is a Brazilian racing driver.-Early career:Born in Curitiba, Brazil, Zonta began karting in 1987, winning his first race shortly thereafter. The following year, he was runner-up for the Curitiba Karting Championship, and in 1991, he won the title... |
Ret | 10 | 11 | Ret | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
 Jarno TrulliJarno Trulli Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert... |
11 | 12 |