Toyota announced their plans to join Formula One in 1999, and after extensive testing with their initial car, dubbed the TF101, the team made their debut in 2002.

[3][4][5] Toyota drew criticism for their lack of success, as they never managed to win a Grand Prix with one of the sport's biggest budgets along with being the world's largest car manufacturer.

On 11 October 2024, Toyota announced a technical support deal with the Haas F1 Team, which would continue to receive power units and other components from Ferrari.

[13] In 1997 the team moved into track racing with a sports car project, twice failing to win the Le Mans 24 Hours.

[17] The idea was to gain telemetry data for the races, which allowed them to make aerodynamic changes for the TF102, and for the drivers to experience the tracks in the new cars.

Finn Mika Salo, who can communicate in Japanese, and Scotsman Allan McNish, who drove the GT-One during the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, were appointed as test drivers.

Their first point was scored in their first race, the Australian Grand Prix, when half the field was eliminated by a first corner accident caused by Ralf Schumacher colliding with Rubens Barrichello.

McNish endured a huge crash during practice for the end-of-season Japanese Grand Prix and missed the race on medical advice.

Zonta drove for Toyota for the subsequent four rounds, before being replaced by Italian Jarno Trulli, who had left the Renault works team.

Toyota made a good start to the season, with Jarno Trulli qualifying second at the opening round in Australia and finishing second at the following two races in Malaysia and Bahrain.

Their highest race finishes thereafter were 4th at France with Schumacher and also at the Brickyard, where Trulli started from the back and fought his way through to beat champion Fernando Alonso's Renault.

Jarno Trulli suffered a slight problem, and was off the pace during the team's home race (the Japanese Grand Prix) which delayed team-mate Ralf Schumacher on course for a strong result.

Toyota surprised the Formula One community by dropping Mike Gascoyne from their technical department after the Melbourne race, especially as the Englishman had contributed to their rise in competitiveness during 2005.

During the four-week break that followed the third round, Toyota tested at the Circuit de Catalunya, where the team stated improvements were made.

[44] More points were to follow at France, where Trulli managed to hold off Heikki Kovalainen in the late race stages to collect 3rd place.

Trulli dedicated this podium to former team boss Ove Andersson, who died in the week prior to the race, in a car accident.

At the next race in Belgium Trulli struggled, only being able to finish 16th, as his gearbox was damaged in a collision with Sébastien Bourdais' Toro Rosso on the first lap.

At the Japanese Grand Prix Glock retired on lap 7 with a mechanical failure, after hitting debris from David Coulthard's crash.

Meanwhile, in the dramatic 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix the Toyotas were the only cars to stay out on dry tyres in the torrential rainstorm in the closing stages of the race, and that had a significant factor on deciding the destiny of the world title.

Afterwards, Glock denied conspiracy claims that he gave the place to Hamilton, citing that he was struggling for grip on the wet track surface and that there was absolutely nothing he could do.

This early form was partly due to a loophole in the new technical regulations, as Toyota was one of only three teams to begin the season with a "double diffuser" design.

A resurgence towards the end of the season saw Toyota claim another two podiums (in Singapore and Japan) and secure fifth place in the constructors' title, albeit without the targeted first victory.

Glock was injured in a crash during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, and was replaced for the final two races of the season by the team's test and reserve driver, Kamui Kobayashi.

Stefan Grand Prix also rented private office space at Toyota Motorsport GmbH, but the team was refused an entry and never competed in Formula One.

The first chassis TF110-01 was painted red for Stefan GP and was run in a shakedown by Kazuki Nakajima in the Toyota Motorsports headquarters car park.

Based on a racer's credentials, Olivier Panis could be classed as Toyota F1's first notable driver, being their first man with a Grand Prix win to his name.

However, that win was in unusual circumstances, when many of the front-runners (drivers for teams like Williams, Ferrari and Benetton) dropped out in the wet, tricky conditions.

After a 2004 season with the Grove-based team that yielded just one top-three race finish, a need for change was felt and Schumacher joined Toyota.

[40] Being Toyota's first recruitment of a top driver and Grand Prix winner, Jarno Trulli's move from Renault was big news.

It was late during the 2004 season, and Trulli was dropped from Renault's race line-up despite matching his team-mate Fernando Alonso, and replaced by Jacques Villeneuve.