Jarno Trulli

Jarno Trulli

Trulli at the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix
Date of birth	13 July 1974 (1974-07-13) (age 36)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian
2010 team	Lotus-Cosworth
2010 car #	18
Races	232 (228 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	11
Career points	246.5
Pole positions	4
Fastest laps	1
First race	1997 Australian Grand Prix
First win	2004 Monaco Grand Prix
Last win	2004 Monaco Grand Prix
Last race	2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2008 position	9th (31 pts)

Jarno Trulli (born July 13, 1974 in Pescara, Abruzzo) is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert. After Toyota pulled out of the sport, following the 2009 season, having received no offers from any of the remaining teams, he signed up to race for Lotus Racing in 2010.

Career

Early days

His parents were motorsport fans and named their son after Jarno Saarinen, the Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle racing champion who had been killed at Monza in 1973. This Finnish forename caused a certain amount of confusion when he first entered Formula One, with many not initially realising that he was Italian. His father's enthusiasm also meant that, like many successful racers, he was involved in karting from an early age.

Formula 3 and early Formula One career

Trulli driving for Prost at the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix.

After winning the Italian and then European kart championships he won the German Formula Three championship in 1996, and in 1997 made his debut in F1 with Minardi. After 7 races he replaced the injured Olivier Panis at Prost and impressed immediately, finishing fourth in Germany and even leading in Austria, looking set to finish second until his engine blew. He stayed at the Prost team for the next two seasons and eventually scored his first podium in wet conditions at the 1999 European Grand Prix. However, this was a rare highlight in a race few of the main front-runners finished, and the poor performance of the Prost team convinced him that a switch to Jordan would bring improved results.

2000–2001: Jordan

Trulli leads the midfield on the first lap of the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix.

In 2000 he moved to the Irish squad, but the team was no longer the force it had been in the late 1990s. In his two years with Jordan, Trulli failed to score a podium, but did impress with a series of brilliant qualifying displays. During this period suggestions were made that Trulli was more of a qualifying specialist than an out-and-out fast race driver, a charge he frequently denied. Under long-term contract to personal manager (and Renault manager) Flavio Briatore, Trulli secured a contract with the Anglo-French squad for 2002.

2002–2004: Renault

Jarno Trulli driving for Renault at the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2003.

Alongside Jenson Button, he often outqualified his British teammate, but was generally shaded in races. Regardless of Button's improved pace that season, it was Trulli who stayed at Renault for 2003 to partner promoted test-driver Fernando Alonso. The 2003 Renault was a strong car and in Alonso's hands won in Hungary. Trulli struggled to attain similar results, but did achieve a podium in Germany, his first since leaving Prost.

Mindful of how much Alonso had outperformed him in 2003, Trulli improved markedly the next year. For the first half of the season he was the better of the two Renault drivers, racking up regular points and podiums. At Monaco he finally took his first victory after a brilliant display from pole position. Having performed so well, the Italian was eager to stick with the team for 2005, but his relationship with team-boss Briatore soured. A last corner error which allowed Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello onto the podium in France enraged the team, and from that point his days with the French manufacturer were numbered. For the second half of 2004, Trulli failed to gain any points and was consistently off the pace during races. He later accused the team of favouring Alonso, but the reasons why his 2004 season deteriorated have never been properly identified. He was sacked three races before the end of the season and replaced by 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. Trulli had already agreed to drive for Toyota in 2005, and his early exit from Renault allowed him to take up his new seat for the last two races of the 2004 season, replacing Ricardo Zonta.

2004–2009: Toyota

Trulli driving the Toyota TF105 in 2005.

2004–2005

In 2005, early season podiums demonstrated Trulli's speed and at Indianapolis he took Toyota's first F1 pole (albeit with very low fuel). For the vast majority of the year he outpaced highly paid team-mate Ralf Schumacher, but a late season dip in form saw him slip to seventh in the championship, two points behind the German.

Jarno Trulli in Helsinki in 2006

2006

In 2006, Trulli suffered a very poor start to the season. On the first lap of the 2006 Australian Grand Prix, he was taken out by David Coulthard. He seemed to be outpaced by team-mate Ralf Schumacher more often than not, but his reputation was restored when he raced to 6th from 4th on the grid at the Canadian Grand Prix. Following this was a 4th place in the United States Grand Prix. From then on, he would only score 3 more times, with a couple of 7th place finishes in the German Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix and also a 6th place in the Japanese Grand Prix. There was even bad luck here, as his car became troublesome to drive mid-race, and Ralf Schumacher was delayed in the process. Trulli was racing very well in the season finale at Interlagos, but bad luck robbed him again, as his car suffered suspension failure in only the first 10 laps, a fate which befell his team-mate at the same time. He finished 12th overall.

Trulli driving for Toyota at the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix.

2007

Trulli scored his first points of 2007 in Malaysia, finishing in 7th place after qualifying 8th. A couple more points followed in Bahrain, but he stalled on the grid at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix and dropped out during the early laps due to mechanical failure. Monaco brought no better fortune for Trulli, as he finished down in 15th place, just ahead of team-mate Schumacher, after qualifying his season-worst 14th. Points were collected by Trulli at the Indianapolis for 6th place. After a series of non-scoring runs, Trulli said that the result was 'incredible'.^[1] He also qualified well for the French Grand Prix but crashed with the Renault of Heikki Kovalainen on the opening lap, and duly retired because of the damage. Trulli accepted the blame for the incident. The second half of the season was disappointing with Trulli's only point coming in the final race of the season at Brazil.

Post season there had been reports that Trulli's contract was not safe, and that he may have be replaced in the Toyota team for 2008 by Heikki Kovalainen.^[2] These proved unfounded as Kovalainen signed for McLaren.

2008

Trulli driving for Toyota at the 2008 French Grand Prix, where he scored the team's first podium finish for more than two years.

In 2008, Trulli was hoping Toyota would make a big step forward. Timo Glock was confirmed as his team-mate for the season.^[3] Trulli started the season quite well, with several points scoring finishes, the height of which was a fourth place finish in Malaysia. Trulli's qualifying performances were also very good throughout the first few rounds of the Championship. His form then slumped a little, with disappointing performances in Turkey and Monaco, as he finished in non-points scoring positions.

However, he bounced back from this with a 6th place finish in Montreal. He then topped that in France by finishing on the podium in 3rd place, holding off the challenge of Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica in the closing laps.

He qualified on the front row alongside pole-sitter Felipe Massa for the season-ending Brazilian GP, which was to decide the 2008 world championship between Massa and Lewis Hamilton. During the race, Trulli had several close shaves in the changeable weather conditions, and eventually finished 8th. His team-mate Glock played a pivotal part in the title outcome as he was passed by Hamilton on the last corner of the race, which gave the Englishman the championship by one point from Massa, who won easily.

2009

Trulli on the grid at the 2009 British Grand Prix.

Trulli was confident going into 2009.^[4]. In the first race of the 2009 season, the Toyotas of Trulli and Glock started the race from the pitlane as their qualifying times were disallowed due to Toyota's flexible rear wing breaching regulations. Although Trulli started from the pit lane, he finished in an impressive 3rd place before being penalised 25 seconds, dropping him to 12th position for passing Lewis Hamilton under the safety car. A few days after this decision, Hamilton was disqualified from the race results for 'misleading' the race stewards by insisting that Jarno Trulli had passed him under the Safety Car although Hamilton in fact let him pass on purpose due to an order given by the team from the pitlane. Jarno Trulli therefore regained his third place finish.^[5] At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Trulli qualified on pole position but faded in the race to place third. However he did record the fastest lap, the only time he has achieved this in his career. He holds the record of having started the most Grands Prix before recording a fastest lap.

He crashed out of the Spanish GP after being forced off the track at the second corner and being collected by Adrian Sutil, and then had a poor performance in Monaco as the Toyotas qualified on the back row of the grid. Improvements saw him score points in three of the next four races, before the following four rounds saw him struggle again as he failed to finish in the Top 10. At the Singapore GP he placed 12th while team-mate Glock was 2nd. Trulli then fought back at the Japanese GP (which would prove to be Toyota's last home race) by qualifying and finishing 2nd. He then qualified 4th in torrential conditions in Brazil, but like in Spain collided with Adrian Sutil on the opening lap of the race, an incident which enraged Trulli as he blamed the German for the crash. His obvious display of anger towards Sutil (who also retired) afterwards earned him a $10,000 fine. Trulli finished 7th in the season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Toyota F1's last race.

2010: Lotus

Trulli driving for Lotus Racing at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix.

On 14 December 2009, Trulli was confirmed as one of the newly-formed Lotus team's drivers, joining former McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen.^[6] He only finished one of the opening four races, a weaker reliability record than Kovalainen, leading him to note that "everything happens on my car and my car only – so to this day, my expectations have not been met" ^[7]

At the launch of the Lotus T127, Trulli admitted in an interview with Autosport that US F1 and Sauber had been in contact with him.

In late 2009, Trulli was asked to test a NASCAR stock car in North America for Toyota. The car was set-up by Michael Waltrip Racing.

Racing record

Career summary

^* Season in progress.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^* Season in progress.
^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Pre-F1 career

• 1996: 1st German Formula 3 (KMS Dallara-Opel)
• 1995: 4th in German Formula 3 (KMS Dallara-Opel), 1st in Italian Go-kart class 100 FA, 1st in World Go-kart class 125FC, Senna Memorial World Cup winner
• 1994: Senna Memorial World Cup winner, 1st in North American class 100SA, 1st in European class 100SA
• 1993: 2nd in World Go-kart Champion class 100 SA, 1st in Grand prix of Japan Class 100 FSA
• 1992: 2nd in World Go-kart class 125 FC
• 1991: 1st in World Go-kart class 100 FK
• 1990: 1st in Grand Prix of Hong Kong Class 100 FA
• 1988–1990: Three times 1st in Italian National 100 Class
• 1983–1995: Karting

Personal life

Trulli is married to Barbara and they have two sons, Enzo (b. 2005), named after Trulli's father, and Marco (b. 2006). He is the co-owner of a vineyard in the Abruzzo region in Italy and produces his own wine.^[8] He also has his own range of Karts named 'Trulli Kart'; Trulli himself was a World Champion at Karting level.^[9]

References

External links

• Official Website
• Profile at Toyota F1 official website
• Jarno Trulli Profile and Statistics
• Jarno Trulli Revealed on CNN.com

Lotus Racing Personnel: Tony Fernandes | Riad Asmat | Mike Gascoyne | Alex Yoong 2010 drivers: 18. Jarno Trulli | 19. Heikki Kovalainen 2011 drivers: 20. Jarno Trulli | 21. Heikki Kovalainen 2010 test drivers: Fairuz Fauzy | Nabil Jeffri 2011 test drivers: TBA Formula One cars: T127