|
After winning a number of karting championships in his youth, including the World Championship in the 100 FK class (1991), and finishing runner up in 125 FC (1992) and 100 SA (1993), Jarno Trulli eventually switched to German F3, with a little help from manager Flavio Briatore. He demonstrated his talent straight away and went on to win the 1996 German F3 Championship.
The promising Italian was signed to Minardi for 1997, making his F1 debut for the team in Melbourne. He switched to Prost mid-way through the season, replacing the injured Olivier Panis, and scored his first points in his third race for the team, bringing the car home fourth in the German GP.
Trulli stayed with Alain Prost's outfit for a further two seasons, and made his first trip to the podium at the Nurburgring in 1999 after finishing second.
After moving to Jordan for 2000, Trulli was disappointed to find the team plagued by mechanical problems, but some strong drives saw him finish in the points four times during his first year with the team and he stayed with them for the following season.
In 2001 Jarno was again a regular points scorer, but life at Jordan was far from easy, especially following the departure of the Italian's teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen mid way through the season. Although he had stated his desire to stay with Eddie Jordan for another year, Trulli was called back to Renault by Briatore, and lined up alongside Jenson Button for 2002.
The new wide-angle V10 Renault showed much promise during pre-season testing and in the opening rounds of the championship. Unfortunately as the season progressed the French outfit didn't appear to find any extra power and consequently found it difficult to compete with the big players.
That said, the reliability problems that plagued Jarno in the early races seemed to have been resolved by mid-season and as a result the Italian was able to collect nine useful points, not easy when you consider the reliability of the Ferraris and WilliamsF1s.
In the post-qualifying press release issued by Renault in Japan - the last race of the 2003 season - Pat Symonds, the team's executive director of engineering - described the Italian as 'the unluckiest man in Formula 1', which just about sums up Jarno's season.
At least, certainly compared to 2002, the car went the distance more often than not, but on the whole the Italian's season can be summed up with those two little words 'bad' and 'luck'.
Japan was a good example, fastest in every session, clearly the pace setter, then just as he went out to begin his 'hot lap' in qualifying the heavens opened and a result he was forced to start from the back of the grid. That said, a strong, typically determined, drive saw him finish fifth.
In 2003, much of the attention was focussed on teammate Alonso this year, but Jarno put in some stirring drives, until 'Lady Luck' decided it was time to intervene. Eighth place in the drivers' championship for the second successive season wasn't bad considering.
2004 was definitely a season mixed emotions. The high was a superb, and well deserved win at Monaco, while the low has to be the last corner lapse of concentration which cost him second place, and ultimately his seat with Renault.
During the early part of the season Jarno was sublime. living up to all the promise (hype?) of the early years, indeed he stole much of teammate Alonso's thunder.
However, after France it all appeared to go downhill. Certainly Renault appeared to have lost the momentum shown in the early races, but it was the behind the scenes politics where the damage was being done.
As the relationship deteriorated, Jarno did himself no favours by clearly going out of his way to antagonize his employers, but more importantly team principal Flavio Briatore. An uninspired performance would end with a super-fast lap, just to prove a point.
As the situation worsened the team finally decided that it had no option but to let the Italian go, therefore after Italy he and Renault parted company, followed, the day after, by the news that he had signed to Toyota for 2005. Having been released from the Renault contract Jarno was allowed to move to the Japanese team for the remainder of the season, the races in Japan and Brazil seeing him finish 11th and 12th respectively.
In 2005, much was expected of the Italian, named after the Finnish motorcycle-racing champion, Jarno Saarinen, who was killed at Monza in 1973.
The season got off to a dream start, when Jarno qualified on the front row in Melbourne, Unfortunately, following his first pit stop, the Italian encountered a problem with a rear tyre, which was to drop him down the field, eventually finishing ninth. Two weeks later however, having again qualified second, he maintained the position to give his employer its first ever podium result, adding another podium in Bahrain.
During the course of the season, Jarno was to deliver some devastating performance, sadly, almost al of them were during qualifying.
When it came to the race however, the Italian rarely appeared to match his qualifying pace, and more often than not ended up becoming a mobile chicane, leading what was to be (cruelly) known as the 'Trulli Train'.
Truth is, Jarno's qualifying performances usually flattered the TF105, however, there was a tendency for him to be flustered by minor (handling) problems and end up making a mountain out of a molehill.
Nonetheless, he gave Toyota its first two podiums, and its best finishes of the season, even though he finished two points down on his teammate, following a clear dip in performance towards the end of the year.
Retained for 2006, much was expected of the TF106 and the Italian. However, it was to be a difficult year for both parties.
After the success of 2005, and the not unreasonable claim that Toyota would score its maiden GP win, 2006 came as something of a shock, to put it mildly.
The entire TF106 and RVX-06 package was disappointing, with the TF106B - introduced at Monaco - proving only a little better. A lack of grunt from the Toyota powerplant, combined with a lack of balance and grip, meant that Trulli was never a serious contender, though were occasions when it appeared that someone had forgotten to tell the Italian.
As in 2005, Jarno was beaten in the Drivers' Championship by his German teammate, however, it was the Italian who usually looked more likely to pull of a surprise result.
While he had been a regular points scorer in the early stages of 2005 - remember the back-to-back runner up spots in Malaysia and Bahrain - it was Canada - round nine of the championship before he scored his first points in 2006. That said, there were some strong qualifying performances, even if the strategy was dubious.
The highlight of a poor season was at Monaco, scene of his magnificent victory in 2004, where he held third until succumbing to a hydraulics failure just a few laps from the finish. Then here was his in-house victory over Ralf at Suzuka, the Italian refusing to capitulate to the German.
At Hockenheim, it was announced that Jarno had signed a new three-year deal with Toyota, at a time when many believed the Italian was considering retiring.
Those expecting a significant improvement from Toyota in 2007 were to be disappointed. While the TF107, unlike its Honda counterpart, was not an absolute dog, it certainly wasn't good. The main problem was, and this is significant when talking about a fast driver such as Jarno, is that the TF107 lacked pace. Consequently, for much of the season it was about catching up with the opposition, a major problem when the car had been a let-down in qualifying.
The Italian out-qualified his teammate, Ralf Schumacher, fourteen times, however, all too often the car was unable to match its rivals race pace.
There were some notable performances, most notably in North America, coincidentally a time when Ralf was under intense pressure from the team. Despite a number of upright failures Jarno gave his all in Canada, however, his efforts were totally compromised when the team, fearing another failure, ordered him to "avoid the kerbs". However, whilst on the other side of 'the pond' he picked up his best result of the season, a sixth at Indianapolis.
Despite speculation, and the fact that Toyota can afford to buy him out of his contract, Jarno is retained for 2008. However, as Ralf seeks a future in DTM and Giancarlo Fisichella faces a season with Force India, the Italian knows that it is now or never.
Hopefully, the TF108 will be a marked improvement on the two previous Toyota's and Jarno will get to show some of the sparkle we witnessed a couple of seasons back. However, in Timo Glock, unlike Ralf, the Italian will face some opposition this season, and it remains to be seen if Jarno is still up for a fight.
With drivers of the calibre of Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel and Kubica coming into F1, the 'old boys' must either deliver or make way, and Toyota is not known for its sentimentality when it comes to dumping drivers.
Statistics - Prior to 2008 Season
Drivers' Titles: 0
Seasons in F1: 11
Grand Prix: 181
Wins: 1
Points: 183
Poles: 3
Fastest Laps: 0
Best result in 2007: 6th (USA)
Best qualifying 2007: 6th (Spain)
Worst qualifying 2007: 14th (2 times)
Average grid position 2007: 9.35
2007: Out-qualified Ralf Schumacher 14 times
2007: Out-qualified by Ralf Schumacher 3 times
2006: Completed: 902 out of 1065 laps (84.69%)
2006: Finished 13 times from 17 starts (76%)
|
