Trulli upbeat about 'new' Toyota

The home of the Spanish Grand Prix was resurfaced over the winter and hit problems at the first test when oil started seeping through the asphalt surface - leading to dramatically less grippy conditions. The winter work had also left major bumps at certain parts of the track that had to be ground down last month.

And the latest experience of Barcelona has left teams slightly puzzled - because cars are lapping quicker on old tyres than on fresh rubber. This means no-one is quite sure where they stand at the moment.

Speaking about his early experience of the latest spec TF105, which looks dramatically different to its predecessor, Trulli said: "I think it works very well.

"The car is easier to drive than it was before and I think it's quicker too, but it's a bit too early to draw any conclusions about it. There's a lot more to come from the car and we have to do some work to maximise the car's potential.

"We're still not where we wanted to be with the traction of the car, and that's one area we'll be working hard now, but one thing is sure - this car was a good car straight out of the box.

"Things went well today, as I said before, but it's very difficult to compare things, mainly because of wind, but also because the track conditions kept changing. In any case, when the situation was stable, early in the morning, the first impressions were very good and we were setting competitive times from the start of the session until the wind picked up.

"But, unfortunately, we're all a bit lost here in Barcelona, with this new surface. It's not only us at Toyota, it's all the teams, because suddenly we're not able to set the quickest time on the first lap of the tyre, we have to wait five or six laps to go faster.

"And it looks like it's even better when the tyres have done dozens of laps, which is completely the opposite of what it used to be here and still is the case in every other track. It's difficult to understand what's going on and, therefore, impossible to pass a judgment about the competitiveness of the new aero package, although my personal feeling is that we've improved a lot."

Trulli is under no illusions that it is going to be a hard season for Toyota but he is relishing the challenge and is hopeful that the team can make progress in closing down the gap to the teams ahead of it.

"What we want is to be able to score points on a regular basis, improve the car throughout the season to catch up with the best five teams and prove we're making progress."