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Trulli remains unsure about racing return

Jarno Trulli has told autosport.com that he is still not sure about whether he wants to make an early start racing with Toyota, despite speculation that he could replace one of the team's regulars in time for the Japanese Grand Prix. Autosport.com's grand prix editor Jonathan Noble looks at the chances of Trulli opting for a 2004 comeback

The Italian began his first major test for his new team at Jerez in Spain on Tuesday morning and is set to decide at the end of the week about whether he is ready to make his Formula 1 comeback or would prefer to sit on the sidelines and wait until the start of next year.

But speaking to autosport.com at the end of the first day of testing at Jerez, Trulli indicated that while he was tempted to return to F1 to prove he had lost none of his edge after parting with Renault, he also made it clear that he would only join the team if he was 100 percent comfortable in the car. So far he has not reached that point.

Speaking about whether he would race this year, he said: "I am very tempted but I really do not know yet. I am testing properly for the first time here.

"Now I have got a new seat, my helmet is not pushed against the headrest so I am looking up more, but I may make another seat. I really do not know at the moment. I do want to race, but unless I am comfortable in the car there is no point. I would rather spend time concentrating on 2005."

Trulli is known to be a driver who likes his cars to be as technically perfect as possible - and when it is set-up to his liking then there is probably no driver better at extracting the performance from it over a single lap.

When the car is not spot on, however, or its handling changes then Trulli can sometimes struggle. His recent troubles, where he complained about the characteristics of the Renault despite the team insisting there was nothing wrong, is ample evidence of how much of a perfectionist Trulli is.

It is understood that Trulli's reluctance to race if circumstances are not completely in his favour have been further bolstered by the fact that his replacement at Renault, Jacques Villeneuve, struggled so much on his return to F1 at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Villeneuve may have shown flashes of speed during practice and qualifying, but he disappointed in the race as he finished out of the points in 11th place - having been drafted in at Trulli's expense with the sole intention of adding to Renault's points tally in its battle with BAR for second place in the constructors' championship.

Sitting out the rest of the season could actually prove beneficial to Trulli, because he would effectively be in a win-win situation. If the Toyota shows an upturn in form at the end of the campaign then Trulli could claim it is as a result of his testing feedback, and if the car does not deliver on the track then he could claim that it was because he was not racing it. Should he opt to get back behind the wheel and disappoint, then it could get his relationship with Toyota off to a bad start.

Toyota's technical director Mike Gascoyne believes that an early start for Trulli in Japan may not deliver the kind of results that the Italian expects - because he is expecting a struggle for the Cologne-based team in Suzuka.

When asked whether he believed Japan would be an easy race for Toyota, Gascoyne said: "Probably not. It's an aero circuit and our top end level of aerodynamics is weak, but we have to go and do our best."

It is unlikely, then, that Trulli has booked his flights to Japan just yet.

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