APRIL 10, 2004

Ralf and Toyota (again)

There are reports from Germany that Ralf Schumacher has signed a three-year deal with Toyota for around $15m a year. The story said that Schumacher would be the number one driver at Toyota. The stories were denied by Toyota. Our sources tend to support Toyota's comments as the Japanese giant is believed to be waiting to see whether Ralf can do a better job than he has been doing in recent weeks with Williams. If not, Ralf is going to be in big trouble because there is no sign that any other team is interested in running him in 2005. There is now no chance that Ralf will stay at Williams and there are signs that the relationship is getting more and more strained, Ralf leaving the Barcelona test early last week because of an apparent backache. The team remains intent on signing up Mark Webber and in recent day has been looking closely at Indy Racing League Champion Scott Dixon. The New Zealander did a solid job but the times were not very spectacular, Dixon ending the third day of testing with a time which was still seven-tenths off the best lap recorded by test driver Marc Gene. In all probability, therefore, the team is going to continue to look around for other options. There is no shortage of drivers who would love to race for Williams and there is no great rush to sign anyone as the team is currently dictating movements on the driver market.