Friday March 1st, 2002

Toyota were clearly in a hurry to make up for lost time when they made their Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday.

There wasn't a champagne bottle in view but the sight of the shiny red and white cars rolling out for the first free practice session was thrilled enough for the Japanese manufacturer.

"All systems are go," Toyota's chief designer Gustav Brunner said after his cars finished sixth and 16th. "The team worked very well together and the car functioned well. We are quite positive."

The established teams of Ferrari and McLaren keep their cars inside their garages until the latest possible moment but Formula One's new boys were eager to show off their paces. No sooner had the pitlane lights turned green to signal the start of the morning practice session than the first of the Toyotas was hurtling around the Albert Park circuit with Scottish debutant Allan McNish behind the wheel.

The 32-year-old was nervous enough at making his first appearance on a Grand Prix track but was even more worried about getting the car round safely with every team watching.

"When I was driving down the pitlane, the first thing I was thinking about was making sure we didn't do anything silly on the installation lap," McNish said. "Everybody just had to get those few nerves out of the way but it was an emotional moment in so far as it was clarification finally: that's it, we're here, on the right side of the fence and not on the other side."

Like all newcomers to Formula One, Toyota's first appearance signalled the end of a long and expensive campaign. Most recent newcomers have struggled to make any impact in the first season but the early signs are positive for Toyota.

They have been at pains to play down their chances of making an impression in their debut season, although some of their rivals suspect they were bluffing. That scepticism seemed justified on Friday when McNish finished a creditable 16th while Finnish teammate Mika Salo clocked the sixth fastest time, beating everyone except the two Ferraris, the two Williams and one Sauber.

"The practice went as we expected really," Salo said. "We had no problems with the car and it was quite a motivating day."

Published at 08:42:17 GMT