Trulli raves about Renault progress

The Italian has scored in the past two races, finishing fifth at Monza and fourth at Indianapolis. He heads to this weekend's season finale in Japan eighth in the drivers' standings, four points behind team-mate Jenson Button.

"The points from the last races speak for themselves," said Trulli. "It feels like the whole team is really starting to gel. It took me some time to understand how the team worked, and how best to work with my engineers, but we are doing a really great job now.

"We have managed to balance the car well at the last races and everybody can see the result."

Trulli describes Suzuka as the most difficult circuit of the season "mentally". His team-mate Button has the added pressure of driving for a team that he knows he will be leaving. The Japanese GP with the Englishman's last race with Renault before he switches to British American Racing for next year.

"Of course, it would be nice to get a good result," said Button. "It was tough at times [at Renault], especially last year, but I'm looking to score points for myself to finish seventh [in the championship] and for the team."

Renault has already secured fourth in the constructors' championship. Button would need to win if he was to overhaul McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen for sixth in the drivers' standings.