Toyota may have pulled the plug on its Formula 1 operation, but the team behind the programme is still active. Dieter Rencken visited the headquarters to investigate

Wander into the reception areas of Formula 1 operations and they are fundamentally alike: spotlessly clean; trophy cabinet-lined walls; particularly significant cars resplendent in battle dress; photographs of glories past; display or two (maybe three); quietly efficient folk striding past, busy frowns on their faces; non-stop ringing of telephones.

And so it was during the heyday of Toyota Motorsport GmbH, when the 30,000m² facility – the largest in the business and only one capable of constructing an entire F1 car under a single roof – played host to 800 workers, beavering away day and night as they sought to bring glory to the double bubble 'T' that once glistened on nine million new cars annually.

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