Toyota duo optimistic for Sepang

Toyota began their season in Australia better than they had expected, with both Schumacher and Trulli qualifying in the top ten and with the German going on to finish in eighth position to give the Cologne-based outfit their first point of the 2007 season.

Trulli scored the team's maiden podium in F1 at Sepang two years ago, and while the Italian reckons a top three finish is out of the question this weekend, he is confident he can enjoyed a strong Grand Prix.

"I have very good memories of Malaysia because I achieved Toyota's first Formula One podium there in 2005 and that is probably the best race of my time with the team so far," said Trulli in a team preview.

"It would be great if we could repeat that kind of result but we know we still have some work to do to catch up with the top teams because in Australia we were still a bit away.

"However, after a difficult winter of testing it was good to start the season with a competitive performance in Australia and I hope we can have a strong result in Malaysia."

Schumacher is also hopeful Toyota have made progress since the Australian race, and he is looking to score more points in Sepang.

"We made a reasonable start to the season with my point in Australia but we want to be more competitive and hopefully the work we did at our test last week will move us closer to the front," said Schumacher.

"I am optimistic we can be fighting for more points this weekend."