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HRT 'surprised' as Toyota pulls plug on deal
Toyota has abandoned plans to collaborate with HRT for the 2011 season and is instead chasing up unpaid amounts owing from their brief cooperation.
The struggling team was set to use Toyota's planned 2010 car, which went unused when Toyota pulled out of the recently completed season, as the basis for a combined tilt at next year's campaign.
But a Toyota statement said: "Toyota confirms that all cooperation with Hispania Racing F1 Team (HRT) has been terminated and will not resume. It regrets that HRT has not met its contractual payment obligations and will pursue all available options to reach a satisfactory conclusion to this matter."
HRT, having recently concluded a deal with Williams to use its gearbox next year, said it was "very surprised about Toyota's press statement" adding that "it will be a subject of further clarification".
The team's technical boss Geoff Willis told the BBC: "There will be no comment until [there are] explanations from Colin Kolles and the [team owners] Carabantes."