Thank you, as always, for your support over the weekend. Having finished the North American Round, we are finally back for the second half of the European Round. Here is my report from the French Grand Prix.

For the French GP, Panasonic Toyota Racing introduced a new aerodynamics packaged designed to provide stable downforce. Changes were made to the shape of the "spine" (top of the engine cowl), the rear-view mirrors, and the brake ducts.

Introducing our aerodynamic package tested at Silverstone
With the North American Round and its low downforce circuits behind us, we brought a new aerodynamic specification to the French GP, after having tested it at the first joint testing session held in quite a while. Specifically, we changed the shape of the "backbone" of the engine cowl-a section we call the spine. Other changes made were to the rear-view mirrors and the brake ducts. These were the three most apparent changes we made. Our intent was not to directly increase downforce, but rather to stabilize the downforce on our car.

The weather reports called for a high chance of precipitation during Sunday's race this weekend. While we have yet to actually race under wet conditions this season, the Monaco GP's Saturday morning practice was affected by rain. We were quite frantic in Monaco, but we came into this race weekend resolved to be ready for any such eventuality.

Finishing the North American Round, the battle for the F1 Championship returns to Europe. Panasonic Toyota Racing went into the French GP hoping to create momentum. This year's Magny-Cours has undergone extensive repaving, providing quite a bit of improved grip.

A complete Friday program, but confusion regarding the Magny-Cours surface
The tires brought to the French GP were soft and medium compounds, ranging in the interim range in terms of hardness for the four tire compounds Bridgestone prepared for the year. These two types of tires have already been used in several grand prix races this year, so we have had some experience with them. The surprise was that the tires exhibited different characteristics during Friday's free practice session than in earlier races, making setup difficult. Normally, the softer compound is quick during short runs, with lap times falling off significantly the longer they are used. Medium compound tires are slower than the softer tires over short runs, but offer more stable lap times over the course of a long run. On this day, however, we didn't see much evidence of the added benefit in the soft compound in terms of grip. While we weren't able to ascertain why the tires were behaving this way, we did consider that it could have been the influence of the nature of the Magny-Cours track surface, compared to the other circuits we have visited.

This year at Magny-Cours, approximately 70% of the circuit, other than the final sector, is newly paved. This made for a much different track than last year. The change mainly increased the level of grip the course offered. On Friday, the lap times were already quicker than last year's pole position time. Perhaps it was this change that had a small but definite effect on the tires.

Despite the fact that we went through major settings changes during Friday, we were able to complete our program as planned, without any significant issues. Jarno (Trulli) started with a stiffer setting, while Ralf (Schumacher) began with a softer setup. Both drivers did an excellent job for us, and we were able to collect a great deal of valuable performance data. We analyzed the data, and used it as a basis for setting up our cars going into qualifying and race day.

While not achieve our desired results, we put in a strong, mistake-free performance
With Saturday being Ralf's birthday, we really wanted to see him into a top 10 qualifying spot if at all possible. Unfortunately, Ralf missed moving onto the third qualifying period only by the slimmest of margins. Both driver and team were extremely disappointed. Throughout the weekend, Ralf had the stronger of our setups. While we were constantly changing Jarno's setup until the last second, Ralf's settings were settled very early on, making the qualifying result all the more disappointing. Having said that, the margin between Ralf at P11 and Jarno qualifying P10 was razor-thin. With the times among the cars in the middle of the pack so closely grouped, Ralf's relegation to P11 was only by the slimmest of differences, but we were somewhat satisfied as a team that both cars were in a position to fight for a top 10 spot on the starting grid.

Jarno was caught by the red flag during the first period of qualifying, barely making into the second period. In the second and third session, Jarno was able to show the true speed of the TF107, finally qualifying at P8 on the grid. French GP qualifying day this year was on Ralf's birthday. Unfortunately, Ralf missed out on a top 10 qualifying spot by the slimmest of margins.

Jarno battled a strong understeer in his car during the first day of the weekend. Based on the first day's collection of data, we were able to come up with settings on the second day that had the desired effect, helping us achieve an acceptable performance during the third practice session. As the session wore on, further changes to the settings ended up having the opposite effect. Ultimately, we went back to the prior settings, and headed into qualifying.

While Ralf finished the first qualifying period at P7, Jarno just barely advanced at P15. As Jarno was on his second attack lap, he moved to pass the stalled car of Adrian Sutil (Spyker). Jarno later told us that he thought he saw a red flag, so he backed off the accelerator and abandoned his attack lap. As such, we believe that the performance of the TF107 during the second and third qualifying periods were much more representative of the car's true potential. After qualifying, we had high expectations that Jarno and Ralf, at P8 and P11, respectively, would finish in the points on Sunday.

Our race was "over" after a lap 1 accident; Unable to demonstrate the true nature of the evolved TF107
In short, the story of our French GP was that it was over in the first hairpin on the first lap.

Katsuaki Watanabe, president of Toyota Motor Corporation, visited Magny-Cours, encouraging the Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers. The team anticipates being able to demonstrate the full potential of the TF107 at next week's British GP, earning a strong result.

First, about Jarno's accident. The rapid deceleration of the car in front, coupled with Jarno's own admission of a slight hesitation in braking, resulted in an unavoidable racing incident. Jarno was able to somehow coax the car around to the pits, but the steering rod was damaged, and the front left wheel was unresponsive to steering control, eliminating Jarno from the race.

Meanwhile, Ralf, who entered the hairpin immediately behind Jarno, had no room to move, costing several valuable positions. To make matters worse, the cars in front of Ralf were heavy on fuel, frustrating him in his attempts to increase pace. Despite the circumstances, Ralf kept his head and drove a mistake-free race. Ralf was able to gain one position after his first pit stop. However, we couldn't make up for time already lost, only able to gain the one spot.

The start of the race was regrettable for everyone involved. We are very anxious to have the chance to show the world the true performance of the TF107 at next week's race at the British GP, and we ask for your continued support.