Trulli Optimistic of Strong Weekend

Jarno Trulli is confident of a strong weekend for his team after posting the quickest time in opening qualifying for the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

Renault's Italian driver Trulli, whose time of 1:09.566 was the fastest Formula One qualifying lap since 'The Brickyard' hosted a Grand Prix for the first time in 2000, was 0.269 quicker than Brazilian Rubens Barrichello to claim the top slot.

"Of course, I am extremely happy with this result," said the Italian. "Everybody did a very good job this morning, and this result is based on that good work during testing and practice.

"I was happy with the handling of the car straight away this morning, and we seem to be very fast. Looking ahead, I am very confident for the rest of the weekend."

Trulli's Renault teammate Fernando Alonso, who scored his maiden Grand Prix win two races ago, was unable to match the pace of the Italian driver. Alonso finished almost a second behind Trulli in seventh position.

"I have been suffering from understeer all day, and that improved slightly on low fuel for this afternoon's qualifying session," said Alonso. "Overall, I think we did a good job this morning and Jarno has shown that the car is competitive here.

"We still have some work to do on set-up, but with the information we gained this morning, I think we will be strong for tomorrow and Sunday."