Can Toyota deliver a winning car for da Matta ?

The last winning car
By Site Staff (06/03/03)
March 6 2003

Well, Cristiano seems to think that they can. Either that, or the Brazilian has his eye on a seat at Ferrari in the next couple of years ! This site cannot help but think that a quote made to a German newspaper has been taken a bit out of context.

According to the German newspaper Cologne Express, the Brazilian is keen to follow in the footsteps of former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve who won the crown with the then Williams Renault team in only his second year in the sport. The newspaper has published a quote from da Matta where he makes a rather outlandish claim that he too will secure the title within two years.

He said: "Winning the world championship is not my dream, but my goal. I want to win it within two years at the latest.

"Jacques Villeneuve won the CART series and then also won the F1 championship shortly after. So why should I not be able to repeat that ?"

Unfortunately this site has not seen the full newspaper article, and so we are unable to assess the full context under which the statement was made. Drawing a parallel with Villeneuve is not really a wise thing to do, since at the time the Williams Renault was arguably the best car on the 1997 grid as the Ferrari was in 2002. Under the current rules, the general feeling in the paddock is that Ferrari will continue to dominate for the foreseable future with the only close competition coming from the likes of Williams, McLaren, and perhaps Renault. Toyota have been very competitive in pre-season testing, and show great potential, but a claim like this is far fetched and puts Toyota under yet more pressure to deliver - pressure that might not produce the desired results. Some might say that statements like this are a good thing, but this site has a bad feeling about this quote.

On the plus side, the newspaper has run an encouraging quote from current Williams pilot Juan Pablo Montoya, who also comes from a championship winning CART background. "Cristiano has enormous potential," Montoya has been quoted as saying by the Cologne Express. "His car handling is incredible and he is as brave as me."