But whether the team falters or flies from now on will depend largely on their determination and focus.

While this is their first foray in Formula One, Toyota nonetheless have had a long history in motorsport, with much of their success coming in the World Rally Championship in which they have won seven titles.

They also entered the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1998 and 1999, finishing in second place in 1999 and have had a strong CART presence for a number of years.

2002, their first year in Formula One, was closely watched but yielded no points - a lot of the blame for this was placed on drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish.

But given the huge budget at their disposal and the limitless testing they did - in 2001 they ran a whole shadow season - there was no doubt that the team as a whole should have done so much better.

Given the potential power of Toyota, rival teams still feared they would be at the front of the grid in just a few years' time, and the 2003 season saw that threat begin to materialise.

Both Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta put in some impressive performances, although there were more disappointments than celebrations.

Yet that improvement was reversed in 2004. Panis and da Matta failed to inspire while the team was left to rue the boast of boss Tsutomu Tomita that they would score points at every race. In all, a paltry nine were forthcoming - even Jaguar scored more.

Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher replaced Panis and da Matta for the 2005 campaign which finally saw Toyota's hard work and financial input begin to pay off.

The year couldn’t have started better with Trulli grabbing three podiums in the opening four races.

And although their first race victory remained elusive, the Cologne outfit claimed further top-three results courtesy of Ralf, which helped elevate them to fourth in the constructors’ battle.

Now having tasted the podium champagne, Toyota are keen to discover the sweet taste of victory.

The only question is: will it be Trulli or Ralf who gets there first?