Toyota discloses unprecedented details of F1 development

Alain agrees with John Howett that it isn’t always easy to convince those who have spent their life in motor sport teams: “In F1 there are a lot of very, very strong people, who don’t have a lot of time. There’s always a tendency to say, “I’ve done this before, I know how it works, this is the way we do it, don’t ask me any questions.

But it is about getting the trust of people, and you can only get it by leaving your office, going downstairs and talking to the people. You sometimes even get your hands dirty yourself, try out some operations so that you really know what you’re talking about.”

The significant thing is that the TPS programmes have produced clear results, and encouraged improvements that ultimately have an effect on performance on the track.

Mike Gascoyne needs no convincing: “What other F1 team could bring a new car out three races from the end of the season, and then another car out six weeks after the season’s finished, and then another one seven races into the next season?

That is a sign that Toyota is becoming a leader not a follower. Our development strategy is quite innovative compared to any other team. Applying these principles allows you to do that. People say we can do three cars in a year because we spend a load of money, but actually the budget and the head count have gone down over the last two years. But you can do that and still produce a lot more if you are efficient.”

OPERATION: CYLINDER HEAD

For those involved in designing racing cars and engines it’s a fact of life that there is a frustrating wait before the fruit of their labours can be tested on the track or the dyno. It takes time to manufacture parts to the exacting standards required in Formula 1, and everyone has always accepted that. But what if you could reduce that production lead time by a significant degree, and in the process also ensure that the quality of the product was better than before?

That was the clear aim when Panasonic Toyota Racing decided to apply the principles of the Toyota Production System to the manufacturing of cylinder heads, one of the most critical areas of any race engine.

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