Trulli praises Dernie's input at Toyota

Dernie, who has been in F1 for three decades working for teams like Lotus, Benetton, Arrows, Lola and Williams, joined Toyota during the past season as senior advisor.

The Japanese squad have enjoyed an encouraging 2008 so far, with Trulli having finished in fourth in Malaysia and sixth in Bahrain.

"Frank is one of the people who has given a lot of input to the team, but it is not only one person which can change the whole situation," Trulli told autosport.com.

"But Frank is definitely someone I like, because he has got a lot of experience and he can give a lot to this team. He can tell you exactly with a racing spirit, what can happen and what will happen.

"He knows where we should go. And I must say we are sharing the same feeling about the way we want the car and the way we want to work. So I am very happy."

Dernie travelled to Bahrain, his first grand prix visit this year, although Trulli doesn't believes it's necessary for the Briton to go to all races.

"Well, it is not up to me," he added. "But the team in general seems at the moment well settled down, everyone is doing his own job and Frank is helping with the general things. And he will be in charge of sorting things for next year's car."

Trulli believes Toyota are finally moving in the right direction after a couple of torrid seasons.

"I believe that people have understood a lot about what was wrong with the car, and what they wanted for this year. I must say at the moment that we are going, more or less, in the direction that I always wanted.

"It is proving that it is a good direction, the car seems quicker and is quicker, and is delivering more performance.

"But also compared to last year, we can balance the car. Last year we were in a corner and could not balance it out, because the window was so small. This year our window for set-up work and balance work is much wider, so you can play with it a bit more. It makes the car much sweeter."