Trulli remains calm on Toyota's slump

On the back of a disappointing performance in Spain a fortnight ago, Trulli could manage no better than 14th in Thursday practice.

It is all a far cry from the team battling to win the race in Bahrain last month after locking out the front row of the grid.

But despite the struggles in Spain and Monaco, Trulli remains convinced Toyota can rediscover its form quickly - and that its dip in form should only be temporary.

"I am still a little bit careful on this issue because it is only two races, but definitely we look like we are missing something at the moment and we have to understand how we can get back to the position where I believe we belong," he told AUTOSPORT.

"The car has been competitive so far this season, so we hope we can make it back to that real performance."

Trulli conceded that judging by the opening day of practice at Monaco, there was little chance of a transformation in the team's fortunes this weekend.

"I think it is hard to make up a 1.5 seconds gap," he said. "Nevertheless we will try very hard in order to recover. We only can hope on the track evolution in order to be a bit more favoured on this side, because we are lacking grip and with the track rubbering in we might get a bit better.

"It is difficult to say where we are going to be on Saturday, but Spain was a great show, and here is not looking very good. But this I think is not a typical track, so it is difficult to judge this performance, but we are definitely not looking competitive here."