Toyota still unsure of cause of Bahrain nightmare

SEPANG, Malaysia, Mar 16 (Reuters) Big-spending Toyota still have not figured out what went wrong with their cars in a miserable start to the season in Bahrain last weekend, Ralf Schumacher said today.

After challenging the front-runners for part of the 2005 campaign, Toyota were expected to be chasing hard for their first grand prix race win this season.

Instead, German Schumacher and Italian team mate Jarno Trulli ended up toiling at the back of the field at Manama, using the race as a test run and finishing 14th and 16th respectively.

''I think it's pretty simple to see that we have a lot of work to do,'' Schumacher told a news conference at the Malaysian Grand Prix today.

''Having said that, everything is possible. It's a different track, different weekend, so let's see how it works out here.

''The car was a bit difficult to drive but that had to do with a combination of car and tyres,'' added Ralf, who won in Malaysia with Williams in 2002.

''The track conditions should be a bit better for us so it should be a lot better here.

''At the same time we have to admit that we still have to understand the reasons for Bahrain, and it still hasn't happened yet.'' Toyota are among the biggest spenders in Formula One, with estimates of more than 1 billion dollar spent on the team since their race debut in 2002.

REUTERS PDS DS1651