Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Cold weather hampers Toyota duo

The Toyota drivers felt their car's issues with tyre temperature were the primary factor in Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock's disappointing qualifying session at the Nurburgring

Trulli will start in 14th, while Glock ended up back in 19th after several errors in Q1.

"The weather didn't help us at all today," reckoned Trulli. "It was very windy and cold, which generally doesn't suit our car, so unfortunately we were struggling to get the tyres up to the right temperature.

"We were still reasonably competitive so we got through Q1 without any great difficulty but then we had the rain. Towards the end of Q2 we were not on the right tyres at the right time so it wasn't possible to get into the top 10.

"Obviously it's frustrating to qualify in 14th because I am more used to fighting in the top six but we can only do our best in the race tomorrow and see what happens."

Glock was frustrated by his early exit as he felt he could have been very quick when the rain arrived in earnest.

"That was definitely a disappointing result and it is not what I expected for my home grand prix," said the German.

"The weather was too cold for us because since Silverstone I have struggled to get the most out of the tyres over one lap; I don't know if it is only the temperatures or something else as well. It's not clear to me why we have this issue with the tyres in qualifying but we have to work on it.

"It is a real pity I went out in first qualifying because after that we had the rain and I usually do really well in wet conditions. Maybe we will have some rain again tomorrow and that might give me a chance to get a decent result. We will see."

Pascal Vasselon, head of the Toyota chassis department, felt that a better strategy for Trulli and fewer errors by Glock could have prevented the result from being as bad as it was.

"We were certainly not expecting such a bad result," he said.

"So far the weekend had been quite smooth with trouble-free sessions for both cars. The set-up was reasonably sorted but obviously we didn't manage the changeable conditions well in qualifying.

"Timo locked his rear wheels on his lap on the super soft tyres in Q1 and we were one lap too late with Jarno to switch to dry tyres in Q2.

"It was quite a bad result considering the high standards we have set so far this season but anything can happen in the race."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Germany Saturday quotes: Renault
Next article Germany Saturday quotes: Toyota

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe