The F1 grand prix that big-budget Toyota should have won

At the end of the 2009 season Toyota announced its withdrawal from F1, ending an eight-year adventure that saw a huge amount of money spent, and no wins achieved.

Would even one triumph have encouraged the company’s top bosses to stick with the programme through the global financial crisis that also claimed Honda and BMW? We’ll never know, but on April 26 that year the team came close to getting it right in Bahrain, only to drop the ball, as it seemed to do so often.

Trulli started that race from pole position, and come the race, he also set fastest lap. And yet he ended up crossing the line in third, some way down the road from winner Jenson Button. How could it go so wrong?

The 2009 season began in unusual fashion, thanks in large part to Brawn GP’s successful use of the double diffuser concept. Toyota had also pursued the idea, and from the start of the season the white and red cars were competitive. Despite not having the trick aero configuration, Red Bull Racing was the third big player.

The fascinating aspect was that the three teams fighting for race wins were not used to doing so (with due respect to Ross Brawn), while those more used to racing for victory – McLaren, Ferrari and Renault – were struggling to find performance. Thus it was perhaps was not surprising that things didn’t always work out in terms of decisions.

That said, Toyota had shown an improved grasp of strategy over the previous couple of seasons, and had sometimes gained points from difficult situations.

Button had won the opening two races in Australia and Malaysia for Brawn, while Sebastian Vettel scored RBR’s first success in a wet race in China. Toyota was in the mix, with Trulli and Timo Glock finishing third and fourth in Australia after a rear wing issues led to pitlane starts for both. They matched that result (the other way round) in Malaysia.

There seemed to be so much potential, if only the team could get everything right. Bahrain appeared to be that chance.

Toyota had earned two poles back in 2005, with Trulli at Indianapolis when the Michelin runners knew they wouldn’t race and he ran ultra-light, and with Ralf Schumacher at a rain-affected Suzuka.

Bahrain 2009 was the first “proper” pole. Starting fuel loads played a role, and the race would show that an early first stop was planned, but even fuel-corrected the Italian was fastest. His teammate…