Toyota duo reserve judgment on TF106B

The heavily revised car, thoroughly tested at Paul Ricard before the Monte Carlo outing, did not take the Toyota drivers near the top of the times on Thursday, with Trulli finishing in 11th place and Schumacher down in 18th.

Both drivers played down the importance of today's times, however, and believe the full potential of the car is yet to be seen.

"That was a reasonable day of practice for us but finding grip was a struggle," said Schumacher. "We still have some work to do on set-up but that is always the case around Monaco because the track surface changes so much. On Thursday here the lap times are less relevant than most other days of the season.

"This is a narrow track and the challenge is to make it through the weekend without incident.

"So it is still too early to tell how the TF106B is performing. The new car is a mechanical evolution so it does not have a completely new aero package but it represents a step forward and should bring us results over the coming races."

Trulli, a Monaco winner in 2004, did not draw any conclusions either.

"It is difficult to draw too many conclusions after what was a typical Thursday of practice at Monaco," said Trulli. "The grip level was low and it did not improve much during the day. But we managed quite a lot of laps without too much trouble. 

"Experience is especially important at this track because there is simply no margin for error. Qualifying is always crucial because it is so difficult to overtake but Saturday will be tough because there will be 22 cars out there all looking for a clear lap."