Trulli aims for podium from fifth

His Toyota team had two miserable races in Spain and Monaco, having started the season strongly, but appears to be in much better shape in Turkey, where Trulli was a major contender in qualifying before ultimately taking fifth on the grid.

"I am happy with this good result, especially after the difficult time we had during the last race weekend," he said.

"We have made big improvements and it is nice to be back at the front where we belong.

"We were not far off pole position which is very encouraging and gives us high expectations for the race tomorrow. Obviously it is a long race and it's difficult to predict what will happen, but I will be fighting to finish on the podium."

But the head of Toyota's chassis team Pascal Vasselon hinting that the squad had hoped for better than row three.

"Naturally we want to fight for the podium here so we aimed a little higher than fifth, but it didn't happen so now we are looking to maximise our chances in the race," Vasselon said.

While Trulli was back among the frontrunners, his team-mate Timo Glock could only manage 13th on the grid and blamed himself for the poor result.

"When we put the option tyres on with a light fuel load the car had some oversteer and it didn't feel exactly like it did in the morning," said Glock.

"We were still competitive and expecting to get into the top 10 but on my final lap of Q2 I made a mistake in the last sector and that was it; I lost time and didn't qualify where I expected. But it's easier to overtake here than in Monaco so I won't give up on the race."