Trulli aims for race wins in 2001

Trulli is about to embark on his fifth F1 season, his second with the Silverstone-based Jordan team. With a runner up spot in the 1999 European Grand Prix his sole podium finish to date, the Italian thinks it's time both he and his team started performing to a higher level.

"I haven't got what I really want from Formula 1 yet and that means podiums and maybe victory," said Trulli. "I'm really waiting for that to happen and I hope that this is going to be the right season. For sure we've got a good package this year, so I have to think that I may get that chance."

Jordan finished third in the constructors' standings in 1999 and notched up two GP victories with Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Trulli joined for the 2000 season expecting great things, but Eddie Jordan's squad dropped to sixth place in the championship and scored a best result of third after suffering major reliability problems in the first half of the season.

After 11 years in F1, Jordan has re-grouped for 2001 and finally secured a competitive works engine deal with Honda. According to Trulli, if everyone knuckles down, the team can move back up the grid to once again snap at the heels of Ferrari and McLaren.

"When I first joined Jordan I was sure I would do very, very well," said Trulli. "I expected more in terms of the results that we didn't get last year. But this year I think we have got a bigger chance.

"We have the official engine deal with Honda and I think we can improve. It's important to work very hard to try to gain the gap we lost last year and everybody is really optimistic, but we just have to wait and see.

"I think that us, Williams, BAR and Benetton will be the three or four teams that will run very close together. But we'll try to get as close as possible to McLaren and Ferrari, which will definitely be on top again this year."

Such is the dominance of Formula 1's big two, that teams attempting to close the gap would seem to be fighting a losing battle. However, Trulli believes that you have to fight just as hard if not harder to make up places lower down the order.

"At the back of the grid you have to fight very, very hard - harder than they have to fight at the front," he said, "because there are so many people at the back fighting to get maybe just one point. But at the top there are only a few people able to fight to win races."