Toyota Names Allan McNish as F1 Driver

Tokyo―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) and Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) announced today that hitherto Panasonic TOYOTA Racing test driver Allan McNish will join Mika Salo on the starting grid when the team makes its Formula One World Championship Racing (F1) debut in March 2002.

"As our team has yet to participate in active F1 competition, there are numerous challenges that we must face down the road. Allan McNish is fast and is gifted with exceptional development potential," said TMC Managing Director Tsutomu Tomita, who is also chairman of TMG, Toyota's Cologne, Germany-based European racing headquarters. "As such, we have concluded that combining Mika and Allan in our first year would be the best way to go," he said.

McNish, age 31 from the U.K., has, until now, served as a test driver on the Toyota team―which is participating in F1 as a full constructor by developing its own engine and chassis―along with Salo, a 34-year-old Finn named as Toyota's F1 driver last year.

Commenting on his appointment, McNish said: "I have been deeply involved with the team in the development of the Toyota F1 car from the very beginning of the project. In the process, my ability as an F1 driver was recognized and I am very happy to have been officially chosen as a driver for the coming season. This fills me with confidence that I can accomplish the difficult tasks ahead. There is a mountain of things we must do before our first race next year, and I intend to fully devote myself to bringing out my very best."