Timo Glock has been forced to revise his somewhat optimistic target of being world champion within two years, after being questioned about the ambition during the opening press conference of the German Grand Prix weekend.
The Toyota driver only rejoined the top flight this year, after claiming the 2007 GP2 title, but made the claim that the 2010 title was his target - and one that he wanted to achieve with his current team.
“My objective is clear – in 2010, I want to be world champion with
Toyota," he told Germany's
Sport Bild in the run-up to his home grand prix, "Even though some people may laugh, I want to set goals for myself for which I have to work hard, and we will see how it is going by then.”
Glock's best result this season has been a fourth place in the typically unpredictable Canadian Grand Prix, but he has yet to match team-mate
Jarno Trulli for points - the Italian leads 20-5 after
Silverstone - even if he has shown that he can push the veteran for pace. When asked about his comments - which would mean that he wants to be world champion in the same time span as
Donington Park has to ready itself for the British Grand Prix - Glock admitted that he was merely trying to set himself a goal to aim for.
"At the end, you have to set some targets," he insisted, "If I say I don't know when I want to win the championship, that is not a target, that doesn't keep you under pressure. For sure, 2010 will be hard and will be difficult but, next year, the rules are changing and the cars change completely.
"It will be difficult to see where the teams will be next year, but you have to set your targets - and that is my target. If I don't reach it, then I will set a new one and keep working as hard as possible. I saw a lot of people who laughed about it, but I don't care about that as, in the end, you have to set some targets and I set them to keep myself under pressure."
