Category Formula One Designer(s) Jean-Claude Martens | Constructor Toyota F1 | |
Chassis carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite monocoque Suspension (front) Push rod with Torsion bar Suspension (rear) Push rod with Torsion bar | ||
The Toyota TF101 was a Formula One car used solely for testing purposes during the 2001 season, in preparation for the team's full-scale assault on the series in 2002. The car was designed by Toyota F1's chief of chassis Jean-Claude Martens and was driven by Mika Salo and Allan McNish. The TF101 was unofficially called the "AM01" by Toyota until the name of its successor, the TF102 was announced.
Development
The car was designed and built from the ground up by the staff at Toyota Motorsports GmbH (TMG) in Cologne, Germany over a period of nineteen months, in preparation for Toyota's entry to Formula One in 2002. After the initial unveiling of the car, the test team, including drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish took on an intensive testing programme, accumilating a total of 3,000 laps and 22,967 km at eleven F1 circuits around the world, and also the specialist testing facility at Paul Ricard in Southern France.
During the development of the car, the initial designer André de Cortanze was replaced by Austrian Gustav Brunner and he oversaw the continued development of the car, eventually molding the TF102 car, the team's debut racegoing machine based on the work done during the 2001 season.