Toyota to Announce Trulli Tomorrow

Toyota are set to announce tomorrow the signing of Jarno Trulli for a long term contract, which would see the Italian race alongside Ralf Schumacher as of next season.

Trulli left Renault yesterday and no longer has contractual obligations to the Anglo-French team. However, the Italian will not race for Toyota in the remaining three Grands Prix of the season, although he is expected to begin working with the team immediately - therefore testing before the winter ban begins.

Toyota would not confirm the identity of Trulli but did confirm the new driver will be announced tomorrow, and that he will not race this season.

"We will make an official announcement concerning our drivers line up on Thursday morning," a team spokesman told Atlas F1. Asked if they might replace Ricardo Zonta or Olivier Panis in any of the remaining three races of the season, the spokesman said: "We do not plan to change our drivers line up for the three remaining races of the season."

He added that "all other details will be included in tomorrow's announcement."

Trulli himself said, after his departure from Renault last night, that he was expecting to begin work with his new team immediately.

"The important thing for me is to be able to work with my new team already this month, otherwise I would have to wait until November," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "This way I save some important time. Let's say I'm preparing for the new season."