Kobayashi, Trulli and Glock must start producing some decent results

Despite heavy investment since their F1 debut in 2002, Toyota have managed just two pole positions and no race wins.

"Our target is improvement. We were not happy with last year," said chairman Tadashi Yamashina.

"We expect to have a competitive car so our drivers should aim to finish in the points and challenge for the podium."

Last year's drivers Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher scored just 13 championship points between them, with Trulli's best finish a sixth place at the US Grand Prix and Schumacher's also sixth, in Hungary.

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It was the latest season of under-performance from Toyota, who have one of the biggest budgets in F1 but have so far failed to produce a car that matches their financial status.

In 2008, the experienced Trulli, former GP2 champion Timo Glock and third driver Kamui Kobayashi are the men charged with improving results for the team.

"My hopes are always high because normally I am very positive," said Trulli, regarded as one of the fastest drivers in F1 and a race winner for Renault in Monaco in 2004.

"The team has got the potential, the resources, the people and everything necessary to bounce back to the position where we belong. I believe we can produce a good car for next year.

"We work strongly as a team and we are pulling together to help move forward after the problems we had in 2007.

"Obviously, it was a difficult season in terms of results and performance but we are all committed to making a significant improvement."

Glock is only 25 but already has F1 experience with Jordan and said this made the step up less of a challenge.

"Even though I have not raced in F1 since 2004, I have tested quite regularly so I expect it will take very little time for me to get back in the groove," he said.

"I have been lucky enough to race and succeed in several different championships in my career but my goal has always been to become a full-time F1 driver."