The Toyota TF107 is the car with which the

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

team competed in the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

season. It was revealed in Cologne on 12 January, prior to an exhaustive testing regime. The chassis was designed by

Pascal Vasselon Pascal Vasselon (born 20 March 1963) is a French motorsport engineer.In the 1980s Vasselon was involved in development for Renault F1, but subsequently moved to Michelin following the team's withdrawal as a constructor.He held many positions in M ...

, Mark Tatham and

Mark Gillan Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

with the engine being designed by

Luca Marmorini Luca Marmorini (born 17 June 1961) is the former head of the engine and electronics department at the Ferrari Formula One team. Marmorini started his Formula One career with Ferrari in , which he joined after completing a mechanical doctorate. He ...

and Noritoshi Arai overseeing the entire project.

Aerodynamics

The main changes in comparison to its predecessor, the TF106B were aerodynamic."Winning Is Everything", Toyota TF107 launch article,

Autosport magazine ''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One World Championship. Autosport began life as a weekly magazine in 1950 ...

, 18 January 2007 The position of the engine was moved forward by 100 mm, meaning that the chassis tub was shorter. This was achieved by reshaping the monocoque, and did not incur a reduction in size of the fuel tank.f1technical.net Article on TF10
article
The area below the nose of the car was clear of intrusion from suspension components due to the " zero keel" design. In fact at the front of the car, the monocoque was 30mm higher than on the TF106B, which resulted in dramatically sloped suspension wishbones. Although this approach compromised the front suspension geometry possibilities, the Toyota engineers came to the conclusion that this was not a problem.

Engine and gearbox

Owing to the new

homologation Homologation (Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would normally work fr ...

rules on engines imposed by the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

, the engine (called the RVX-07) was based on that used by Jarno Trulli in the 2006 Japanese and Brazilian Grands Prix. Only limited changes from this design were allowed, in order to optimise performance for the 19000 rpm rev limit which was enforced in 2007. Several changes were made to the pistons and valves and other components, although the

engine block In an internal combustion engine, the engine block is the structure which contains the cylinders and other components. In an early automotive engine, the engine block consisted of just the cylinder block, to which a separate crankcase was atta ...

could not be changed. In 2007, the

WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams and automotive engineer Patrick Head ...

team used Toyota engines as a customer team. As part of this partnership, Toyota used a new gearbox developed in collaboration with Williams, which used seamless shift technology. Only the gearbox internals were shared with the Williams's 2007 car, the

FW29 The Williams FW29 was a Formula One car, built by the Williams F1 team that competed in the 2007 Formula One season. It was driven by Alexander Wurz and Nico Rosberg. The car had a Toyota engine, making it only the second time in the team's histor ...

, the TF107's gearbox casing being made by Toyota.

Performance

The car was less successful than the previous year's TF106, which managed 35 points in the season. The TF107's 13 points were amassed with seven points scoring finishes, including two 6th places, one for

Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian racing driver. He regularly competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2011, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Lotus Racing and Team Lotus. His best result in the World Drivers' Cham ...

at the

2007 United States Grand Prix The 2007 United States Grand Prix (formally the 2007 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, in the United States on 17 June 2007. The 73-lap race was the seven ...

and one for

Ralf Schumacher Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair are the only siblings to each win Formula One races. Schumacher began kart ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. Trulli scored points on three other occasions, with Schumacher finishing in the points in two other races. By the end of the season, the team embarrassingly scored less points than

who have the same engine as them in the Constructors' Championship.

did not have his contract renewed. He was replaced by fellow German driver

Timo Glock Timo Glock (born 18 March 1982) is a German professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He raced in Formula One for the Jordan, Toyota, Virgin Racing and Marussia F1 teams. He finished 10th in the Drivers' Championship in both ...

for the 2008 season. The car's best qualifying position was in the hands of Ralf Schumacher, who took 5th place in Hungary. It made the top ten 20 times out of a possible 34.

Complete Formula One results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

External links

Technical Specification and Detail of TF107
{{Toyota F1 Toyota Formula One cars 2007 Formula One season cars