"I came to Toyota because they can win."

Confident
By Site Staff
January 13 2003

Toyota new boy, Cristiano da Matta, has wasted no time in putting across a strong and confident attitude to the press with regard to his new F1 career. Apparently Toyota was his choice of team because he believes they are capable of winning.

Cristiano comes from a CART Championship winning background, and F1 has already seen that this can produce some spectacular results. Who can forget Jacques Villeneuve's fight with Damon Hill in 1996, and his championship winning year in 1997 ? Juan Pablo Montoya has caught the eye of the TV audience many-a-time with his gutsy drives and nerves of steel. Are we going to see another F1 firework in the form of da Matta at Toyota ?

"I'm looking forward to the season and after driving the car I am confident we will do better than last season," he has been quoted as saying to the British press. "I came to Toyota because they can win. Some teams in F1 will never win. Toyota has a very bright future. They have all the resources and are very serious about winning Formula 1. I know I'm not going to win in my first year. That is very unlikely but I think Toyota will win and that is the reason why I joined the team."

With 8 weeks to go until the 2003 season kicks off in Melbourne, the Toyota team will be testing all it can and using da Matta in order for him to build up as much familiarity with the TF103 and F1 as possible.

"I have until March to get used to the car and until then I will be testing with the team every week. I don't think it will be too difficult to get to know the tracks. The main thing is getting used to the car."