Q & A with Jarno Trulli
After securing its first front row lockout in Bahrain just two races ago, Toyota is suddenly in the doldrums, with Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock occupying the last row of the grid in Monaco
What's worse, however, is that the team has no answers about the lack of performance.
Trulli talked about Toyota's worrying situation after qualifying, and AUTOSPORT was there.
Q. How do you think things are looking for tomorrow?
Jarno Trulli: I don't think we are looking good at all, so we will see.
Q. Is it a big shock what has happened this weekend?
JT: It was a bit unexpected the underperforming here, but it is a shame that we did not get as good as in Q1 - because I was able but I just found traffic. At the end of the day, it was a terrible day.
Q. How do you explain the fact that two races ago you were fighting for the win in Bahrain and locked out the front row, and two races on you are at the back of the grid?
JT: There are many things we need to understand at the moment. We don't know.
Q. Is it down to car characteristics? The car set-up?
JT: The set-up not for sure, because we have tried everything - we really put the car upside down and anything we did, did not change the situation. It is difficult now to judge.
Q. Do you think it could have been a track specific thing for the last two races?
JT: No, no. At the moment I don't have an answer because we need to investigate and understand.
Q. And no inkling that this sort of thing could happen in the pre-season built-up?
JT: Yes. We never had such a bad performance in any of the conditions we met over the winter. We are a little bit disappointed about what is happening because we are finding it hard to understand.
Q. Do you think other teams have made bigger steps of development with their cars then?
JT: It doesn't explain one and a half seconds. It is too much - especially for me in Monaco. It is too much.
Q. Is this one of the biggest disappointments of your F1 career?
JT: So far, yes. Okay, I was unlucky to find the traffic otherwise I would have qualified 15th in Q1, but nevertheless the pace is just too far away. It is too far away.
Q. Does the car feel different to drive compared to how it was at the start of the season?
JT: No. The car doesn't feel bad. There is just no grip. It looks like we cannot stress the tyres, get temperature in the tyres, we cannot switch them on. That is the key.
Q. Could that explain what has happened then?
JT: If we can understand this, then we can make a big step forward. But the main problem is turning the tyres on. At the moment we cannot do that and we do not understand why. I don't know why. It is really hard to answer.
Q. And tomorrow, what is the best you can hope for?
JT: We will race and we will see. I really have no idea, but I don't think we can race for points unless many cars stop in front of us.
Q. Is the car problem something that could be cured quickly by looking at data in the factory?
JT: We are already analysing. But the problem is that as drivers we both have the same problem - there is no grip. It is not a question of balance, there is just no grip. We cannot feel the car. We cannot feel the tyres - and we are struggling to make the best use of the tyres. It is not the car - we have changed everything, really everything, and nothing has made a difference.
Q. Could the lack of testing this year have had an impact on the situation?
JT: No. I don't think so. No. I believe more that we need to understand what is going on. There is no testing that will help us, because there are other things that we will have to look at. Obviously this has never been a good race track for Toyota - but it has never been so bad as well.
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