Friday 4 December at 16:01 : Dec.4 (GMM) 500 jobs at Toyota's formula one headquarters have been cut, a spokesman for the Cologne based Toyota Motorsport GmbH has confirmed.

Andy Fuchs, the communications and marketing boss, told the German news agency DPA on Friday that a remaining 150 staff will stay employed for the site's ongoing projects, including sports tuning of road cars and the development of non-F1 racing cars.

The 500 departing staff will receive termination payments and partial salaries for up to a year, he added.

Toyota announced from Tokyo last month that the car making giant will no longer field a team in F1.