Toyota were delighted with Ralf Schumacher's third place

Ralf Schumacher's podium at Shanghai consolidated the team's fourth place in the constructors' championship.

"It has been a very good year for us and to end on the podium is a fine way to finish it off," said delighted team boss Tsutomu Tomita.

"We are not able to compete with the top teams but this podium will provide excellent motivation over the winter."

Schumacher was delighted by his third place and hopeful that it signifies better things for the 2006 campaign.

"I've scored points in 14 races out of 19 this year and I look forward to pushing even further up the grid next season," said the German.

"This was a great way to cap off an excellent first season with Toyota, especially coming after a pretty hard weekend."

Toyota have taken a big step forward this season and are already well advanced in planning for next season having introduced a so-called 'B' car which, they say, is designed with one eye on the future.

The TF105B made its race debut in Japan last weekend and showed its potential with Schumacher taking pole position, although he could only finish eighth in the race.