Jarno Trulli continued his impressive start to the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship by taking another handful of points away from the Bahrain Grand Prix at the weekend – cementing Toyota's position as ‘best-of-the-rest' behind the top three teams.
Though never in the mix for a podium place as he had been in Malaysia a fortnight earlier, the Italian nevertheless looked strong throughout both qualifying and the race, pipping Williams' Nico Rosberg to seventh spot on the starting grid – less than a second shy of pole position – before going on to see off an early challenge from his German rival to ultimately pull away in the race and at one stage threaten Heikki Kovalainen's fifth place.
“I'm delighted with another finish in the top six,” the 33-year-old enthused, “both for myself and for the team who worked very well and did a good job. We finished right behind the top three teams, so that is the most we could expect from the weekend.
“I made a strong start and I was able to gain a couple of places into the first corner. I briefly came under pressure from Nico Rosberg early on, but then I started to do my race. The car was well-balanced, I knew I was quick and we had a good strategy so I just got my head down.
“The car's pace was very strong, both cars finished and we looked very competitive. This result gives us a boost for the future. We will now head to the test in Barcelona looking to build on this in preparation for the next race.”
Timo Glock failed to join Trulli in the top ten in qualifying for the first time this season, beginning the race from 13th spot on the grid. The young German spent much of the duration battling with Fernando Alonso and ran as high as third towards the end of a long first stint, only to fall away to ninth in the final reckoning – just under half a minute shy of his team-mate – when a gearbox glitch dashed his hopes of a points finish.
“That was a good race,” the reigning GP2 champion acknowledged afterwards, having seen the chequered flag for the first time this year, “and overall I was happy with the car. It was a big improvement for my driving style, and I also made some small adjustments during the race which helped.
“The early laps were interesting, with all the guys around me crashing into each other. That made it tricky with the oil in the first and middle sectors. We could have made the points, but I lost speed when I was chasing Nico Rosberg in the middle of the race.
“It was quite hard to fend off Fernando Alonso after that, but in the end I'm happy to have finished. The car was really good in terms of set-up; now we just have to keep working on improving the rest.”
Thanks to Trulli's points-scoring efforts in each of the last two grands prix, Toyota heads into the European leg of the campaign sitting in fifth spot in the constructors' title chase, just two points shy of Williams and arguably looking like the stronger of the two.
“Both our drivers both did an excellent job,” underlined an enthusiastic team principal Tadashi Yamashina. “I'm delighted that Jarno took three points and Timo completed the race so strongly. Our main aim was to get away well from the line, so it was good to see Jarno gain some places into the first corner. Then he raced hard all afternoon, the pit work was good and the race strategy was perfect on both cars.
“Timo also did a wonderful job and he was very fast. Unfortunately we had a minor gearbox problem after his first stop and we were forced to put him on a back-up strategy. It's something we can fix for the next race, but it cost him a well-deserved point. Still, we can now be confident heading to Barcelona. Jarno has again finished in the points and Timo will gain confidence from this performance.”
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Though never in the mix for a podium place as he had been in Malaysia a fortnight earlier, the Italian nevertheless looked strong throughout both qualifying and the race, pipping Williams' Nico Rosberg to seventh spot on the starting grid – less than a second shy of pole position – before going on to see off an early challenge from his German rival to ultimately pull away in the race and at one stage threaten Heikki Kovalainen's fifth place.
“I'm delighted with another finish in the top six,” the 33-year-old enthused, “both for myself and for the team who worked very well and did a good job. We finished right behind the top three teams, so that is the most we could expect from the weekend.
“I made a strong start and I was able to gain a couple of places into the first corner. I briefly came under pressure from Nico Rosberg early on, but then I started to do my race. The car was well-balanced, I knew I was quick and we had a good strategy so I just got my head down.
“The car's pace was very strong, both cars finished and we looked very competitive. This result gives us a boost for the future. We will now head to the test in Barcelona looking to build on this in preparation for the next race.”
Timo Glock failed to join Trulli in the top ten in qualifying for the first time this season, beginning the race from 13th spot on the grid. The young German spent much of the duration battling with Fernando Alonso and ran as high as third towards the end of a long first stint, only to fall away to ninth in the final reckoning – just under half a minute shy of his team-mate – when a gearbox glitch dashed his hopes of a points finish.
“That was a good race,” the reigning GP2 champion acknowledged afterwards, having seen the chequered flag for the first time this year, “and overall I was happy with the car. It was a big improvement for my driving style, and I also made some small adjustments during the race which helped.
“The early laps were interesting, with all the guys around me crashing into each other. That made it tricky with the oil in the first and middle sectors. We could have made the points, but I lost speed when I was chasing Nico Rosberg in the middle of the race.
“It was quite hard to fend off Fernando Alonso after that, but in the end I'm happy to have finished. The car was really good in terms of set-up; now we just have to keep working on improving the rest.”
Thanks to Trulli's points-scoring efforts in each of the last two grands prix, Toyota heads into the European leg of the campaign sitting in fifth spot in the constructors' title chase, just two points shy of Williams and arguably looking like the stronger of the two.
“Both our drivers both did an excellent job,” underlined an enthusiastic team principal Tadashi Yamashina. “I'm delighted that Jarno took three points and Timo completed the race so strongly. Our main aim was to get away well from the line, so it was good to see Jarno gain some places into the first corner. Then he raced hard all afternoon, the pit work was good and the race strategy was perfect on both cars.
“Timo also did a wonderful job and he was very fast. Unfortunately we had a minor gearbox problem after his first stop and we were forced to put him on a back-up strategy. It's something we can fix for the next race, but it cost him a well-deserved point. Still, we can now be confident heading to Barcelona. Jarno has again finished in the points and Timo will gain confidence from this performance.”
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