The European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring is the closest that the Formula 1 event comes to the gates of Toyota Motorsport's factory. The German circuit is a short drive from the team's Cologne base and that always guarantees a full turn-out of Panasonic Toyota Racing fans and employees in the grandstands.

The entire workforce from the factory receives an invitation to the event and it always means there is a special atmosphere for the whole team. Nonetheless the race team will be as focused as ever as it seeks a strong finish.

The Nürburgring is close to the TMG factory and to Kerpen, where Ralf Schumacher grew up and it just happens that this event will mark Ralf's 150th Grand Prix event. Therefore, plenty of his and the team’s fans will be on hand to cheer on them on at their home race and they will be focussed on bringing home more points to add to those collected by the German so far this season.

"We struggled on race day in Imola but our pace shows that we've made big steps forward since the start of the season. We initially struggled because our car concept made it difficult to get grip out of hard compounds in low temperature,” Ralf said.

“But we have worked hard on our set-up and we reaped the benefits for our podium in Melbourne. Now we hope to regain that good form with another good result at our home race. I've always really enjoyed racing at the Nürburgring, which is always greatly affected by the weather. I won my first Formula Junior race at the track and I won the grand prix there in 2003. It will be great to have some of the people from the factory there. That support will be really appreciated so let's hope we can give them a result to cheer."