14 May,2007 (Mon)

Thank you, as always, for your support. May has come, and we have finally started the European round of the F1 World Championship. Here is my report from the Spanish GP, the first race in Europe this year.

New aerodynamics tested at last week's joint testing session

We participated in the joint testing session that was held last week at the Catalunya Circuit, site of this week's race. Our main program at that testing was to settle into a setting for Ralf, since we had yet to find the right balance for the TF107 during the first several races of the year. Another major theme of our testing was to try the new parts we planned to introduce going into the European round. While there was some rainy weather during the session, we basically completed our program, and we looked forward to the upcoming Spanish GP. The only drawback was that there wasn't much wind last week, so we could not correctly determine to what extent the new aero parts would reduce the effects of wind on our car. The weather reports called for dry conditions during the three days of race week, but we heard that the wind would be stronger than last week. We were all looking forward to see how much advantage the new aerodynamic parts would bring.

Confirmed aerodynamic improvements during free practice, but questions remained as to reliability

Under our normal setup process, we start Friday with a somewhat strong downforce setting, and then remove downforce little by little. This meant that we tended to be relatively slow in terms of top speed on Fridays. This time, our top speed was relatively quick from the first day, and our speed out of the final corner wasn't bad at all. I think this was proof that our new, improved aerodynamics has allowed us to go lighter on downforce. While it's hard to say without knowing our competitors' fuel loads, I think we have been able to close the gap in some measure.

However, the fact remains that we were not able to maintain performance throughout the entire day, preventing us from completing our entire program. Jarno's car had no issues, but mechanical troubles hit Ralf's car during the afternoon free practice session-a really elementary error that should never have happened. We were able to make improvements going into Saturday's practice, and we redoubled our efforts to ensure that a mistake like that never happens again.

Jarno captures P6, the highest qualifying position so far this year

Jarno was able to help us achieve our goal of breaking the stranglehold that the top three (Ferrari, McLaren, BWM Sauber) teams have had on qualifying capturing P6. I believe this is an unqualified success for us.

In particular, I think the staff did an excellent job evaluating Jarno's attack lap during Q1 on hard tires, making the right air pressure changes to the medium tires used for the second attack lap, and making detailed front wing adjustments before that attack lap began. I also think that the team's decision to have both drivers make two consecutive attack laps during the second attack of Q1 was brilliant. The decision was made for two consecutive hot laps to reduce the risk of traffic congestion, since it we expected most teams to make their attack laps at the same time. Jarno's attack lap proved the soundness of this strategy.

Meanwhile, Jarno's teammate Ralf got caught behind traffic during both of his second attack laps during Q1. Because of that, Ralf missed advancing to Q2 with his teammate by a mere two-tenths of a second. The times during qualifying were all very close, despite in the gap between our two drivers at P6 and P17. However, we never did truly find a completely satisfactory setup for Ralf. I think we still have quite a bit of room for improvement in this area.

A disappointing double-retirement, but confirmed performance improvements

We were extremely disappointed that both cars encountered trouble, preventing them from finishing the race. Jarno's engine stalled just before the start of the race due to low fuel pressure. Jarno was able to start the race from pit lane, but the same symptoms repeated, forcing Jarno back to the pits and out of the race.

Meanwhile, Ralf was able to able to safely get off the starting grid-an issue for us in first races of the year-and keep his position. Unfortunately, he got tangled up in the confusion on the first lap, and he was forced to come into the pits early. Since Ralf's rear tires were damaged, we changed his tires, altered our race strategy, and topped off his fuel. The back section of Ralf's rear wing was also damaged, but I think Ralf was able to maintain a solid race pace. Whether it was the effect of having contacted another car or something else, the front of Ralf's chassis began to vibrate during the middle stint of the race. Ralf came in for an emergency pit stop, and based on the results of our investigation, we found changing the nose led to some improvement. But since it was already late in the race at that point, we gave up on the idea of getting Ralf back out on the course.

We came to the first race of the European round with a new aerodynamics package, but unfortunately, we experienced a double-retirement for the first time this season. Even so, we were able to confirm that our updated aero parts resulted in performance improvements. We plan on introducing several new parts for the upcoming Monaco GP, and we encourage you to continue to cheer us on at Panasonic Toyota Racing.

Noritoshi Arai engaged in a cheerful conversation in the Spanish GP paddock. While the new aero parts showed their worth during qualifying, the cars weren't able to capture a high finish during the race. Panasonic Toyota Racing plans to introduce more new parts for the upcoming legendary Monaco GP, hoping to wash away the frustration from this race.