Lucky Trulli says Toyota car 'fantastic'

Trulli, who had qualified in eighth place, was forced to start the race from the pitlane after an infringement was found in both the Toyotas after qualifying.

Despite that, Trulli charged back through the field and, thanks to the safety car periods, the Italian gave Toyota a strong start to the season in which the team aims to win its first race.

"Well, after yesterday, it was a great race especially for my team," said Trulli. "I was lucky enough to get away from the first corner accident, and from then on I was pushing, pushing, pushing really hard and this is a great result.

"Toyota made a lot of effort. This result is down to them, they did a great job over the winter to give me a fantastic car. It showed we are doing things the right way."

He added: "There has been a lot of things going on during the race, mainly trying to push as much as possible. I made a lot of overtakings in the beginning, middle and end. I didn't know what was going on. My own target to push as much as possible.

"I was lucky but we have a fantastic car."

Despite having both cars starting from the pitlane, Toyota scored 10 points, with Trulli's team-mate Timo Glock furnishing in fifth.