The Perfectionist: interview with Jarno Trulli

Perfectionists sometimes do not like admitting to their fixation, but for Jarno Trulli there is no effort to hide his trait. In fact, on the back of every bottle of wine that is shipped from his Podere Castorani vineyard he declares as much himself.

"I've always sought perfection in everything I do," writes Trulli on the label. "In a racing car, where split seconds make the difference; and in the vineyard, where hard work and meticulous care can guarantee a wine's quality and unique character."

For Trulli, his quest for perfection is an ongoing journey rather than an ultimate destination. He is a man who is constantly pushing himself to do the best - whether it is improving as a driver or simply trying to unlock more speed from a racing car.

Such a characteristic can be a godsend to a team, because it can inspire individuals to work harder. Perfectionists are usually not shy when it comes to making any effort needed themselves - and they often thrive in situations where things can be improved and they see results.

In fact, just mention to Trulli about the improvements he has found at Toyota since he joined and he almost interrupts you, so keen is he to let the world know how far the Cologne-based team have come even in the last 18 months.

"All I can say that personally I can see that the team have really grown up a lot," he says, his hands waving in the air. "They has learned a lot, they have gained experience and they have understood a lot more in the last two years in F1. They also feel more comfortable and more confident when they work.

"They know they have good drivers there. We have a good team, a good package together, so it is more an established team; it is easier for everyone to work. And when you work well, the results are better."

On the back of Toyota's impressive 2005 campaign, where barring the lost points from Indianapolis they should have finished third overall in the constructors' championship, everything would appear to point to even greater things this season.

The fairytale would suggest the current marriage between Trulli and Toyota having almost reached its zenith. The team are desperately trying to find that little bit extra that will help them deliver a maiden victory; and Trulli is revelling in the developments and input he can bring to help them and him on their way.

"Definitely we are all fired up for this season," he admits. "We know we can have a good package and everything is in place to fight for a victory. We have a huge potential and it is only a matter of using it.

"This is an important year for me and Toyota together. This is our second season together and, after such a good and successful time in 2005, we want to do better in 2006."

That is the plan, anyway. Delivering on that promise may be slightly harder to achieve, however. There is no easy way to become a winner in F1 and, as the sport appears to be heading into one of its most competitive seasons for years, few people are marking out Toyota as one of the early-season pacesetters.

In fact, while bold claims were made at the launch of the TF106 that the team's decision to go early with the car, with an aero revamp in February, would help them deliver a reliable and fast machine for the start of the season - in recent days moves have been made to play expectations down. The talk now is merely of points in the opening few races.

And while Trulli's characteristic of perfectionism has its benefits, it also brings with it some negatives. Most namely, when things do not feel completely right for Trulli, when all his efforts have still not produced a car that handles exactly to his liking, then it can have a negative impact on his performance.

Renault's executive director of engineering Pat Symonds worked with Trulli during his spell at the team and told F1 Racing recently about this strange personality quirk.

"He's an incredibly complex character," explained Symonds. "I don't know how to describe him - volatile...not in the sense of leaping up and down and shouting, but he implodes. He can be so quick, but if the slightest thing goes wrong, then his degradation of performance is staggering."

Inevitably, this talk about 'degradation of performance' revolves around the continued question marks about Trulli's ability to race flat out over the entire duration of a Grand Prix distance. Like Mark Webber, he has been labelled with the 'good qualifier/poor racer' tag and no amount of podium finishes or wins is going to shake it off.

At the first mention of this 'tag' to Trulli, his shoulders instantly droop and he rolls his eyes - making it clear he has probably had enough of being asked about it.

"I think in F1 once you are established as a good driver, or a good qualifier, then people won't change their mind. And that's whether you show a good performance or not. I have done that last year and I have done it so many times in the past. And I don't care talking about it..."

It is worth mentioning that there is a flip-argument to counter much of the criticism aimed at Trulli.

Ultimately, if a team are going to extract the best from their driver, then they have to work to ensure that potential weaknesses are overcome and strengths are exploited.

For Toyota, that means providing Trulli with the atmosphere and machinery that allows him to perform at his best all the time. They did the latter on several occasions last year, and Trulli duly delivered those podiums, and in terms of atmosphere, there is certainly no complaint from the Italian.

"Personally, since I joined the team, they have been listening to me," he explains. "That is important for a driver. If a driver is not comfortable and if the driver is not happy, then he doesn't deliver the good results. When you make him happy, when you give all the support, then for sure the driver will give 100 per cent."

That feeling of being loved is in marked contrast to his dark final weeks at Renault, when Trulli appeared destroyed mentally by what was going on around him. From the highs of his Monaco Grand Prix win in 2004 (which Trulli told Italian reporters last year 'guaranteed a sacking for me') his relationship with the team disintegrated completely.

Trulli will not say it explicitly, but it is clear he believes the collapse of his relationship with the team may have been the simple result of a desire by factions of the team to get him out. It is one thing putting pressure on drivers to deliver results, but quite another when trust between team and driver breaks down completely.

"As far as a team supporting a driver, it doesn't matter if they put pressure on him or not. I have always been under pressure because in a way the driver always has to deliver.

"It is important that the driver always is listened to and the driver is supported by the team. Because if the team do not support the driver, do not believe him, do not trust him, then basically they are not keen on holding onto the driver..."

The existence of trust is something that Trulli has found very evident at Toyota. The team have shown themselves to be supportive of anything that allows him to deliver - as was shown when he struggled to cope with the handling-characteristics of the TF105B last year.

Trulli simply hated the way the car felt on the turn in to corners. That knocked his confidence in the car and, with Schumacher revelling with the more optimised front end, it was no surprise that Trulli's season ended disappointingly.

When the TF106 hit the track for the first time in November, featuring the same front-end characteristics, there was of course some initial concern that Trulli would struggle to get the best out of it. The team quickly alleviated his concerns, though, and made modifications to the front of the car so he could once again feel comfortable.

"Yeah, the B-car had a problem on the front end that did not suit me at all," explains Trulli. "During the winter time we analysed the data, we changed something on the front suspension and suddenly that changed completely the handling. Suddenly I was back on the pace."

There is a real sense that Trulli adores working through problems with the team. He is not the kind of driver whose heart drops at the mention of an imminent test and he is as happy churning through a lengthy tyre-test programme as he is gunning for those out-and-out quick laps.

"I have always been strong in testing, because I am quite sensitive. I can give good direction and give good feedback. It is important for the team and important for the driver as well, because you can push the development of the car and the whole team."

In fact, Trulli is a man who loves looking at the bigger picture of intra-team affairs. There may be some niggling issues over the amount he earns compared to teammate Schumacher, especially judging by their on-track results, but that has not stopped him doing his best to try and work with the German.

"As usual for any teammate, he is your first rival. But the important thing is that we respect each other, and we work in the best direction for the team in order to deliver the results. It seems to work really well."

And Trulli is also not afraid to let it be known that he thinks the team can work better too - even if the team sometimes do not like being on the receiving end of criticism. For although Trulli is excited by the team's development programme for the year ahead, which includes the introduction of a B-spec car at Monaco, he still thinks they have plenty to learn in terms of the way they improve over the course of the season.

"As a driver, when you go to the car and there are developments, it is always nice. There are always new things to discover, and it gives you a boost because when you know something new is coming, then it is usually something better.

"I think Toyota still have to learn how to develop the car through the season. But this is something you learn through the years, with experience in Formula One, because if you look at Renault, McLaren and Ferrari, these are the teams that have the best budget and the best experience in F1. Toyota are learning every year in F1 about the approach and the work and everything that is needed to win races and win the championship, but we still need to win a race."

How soon that maiden win comes, is anyone's guess at the moment. The doubts about the overall speed of the TF106 appear to suggest that success, if it comes, will be later rather than sooner - although Trulli admits that there is a great deal of uncertainty heading into the season.

"I think we can have a very high potential," he says. "I would be really happy to be under pressure to win races and the championship, but this is something we will find out later.

"So far, from what I know, Mike (Gascoyne) is extremely positive - sometimes too much - but I just want to get to the first race. Testing can only give you a rough idea, and only races will let you know what is going on and tell us the truth."

But there is an argument that suggests Toyota should not be heading into the first race of the season with such uncertainty. The early launch of the TF106 and the pre-season aero work should have delivered a car well in front of those teams who only launched in January. Does the uncertainty mean it was a wrong approach?

"It is always a question mark. For sure, in terms of reliability, the earlier you have the car the better it is. But performance-wise, there are a lot of things that come through the winter and through the season as well and normally, nowadays, aerodynamics is the factor that plays the major part in terms of performance."

Then again, the mood heading into 2005 was not that different to how it is now. The team knew the TF105 was a tidy car, but no one - even Trulli - expected it to deliver so much so soon.

"Definitely I was very surprised," admits Trulli, who took podiums in Malaysia and Bahrain to emerge as Fernando Alonso's closest title challenger early on. "I was surprised by the way the season started and way it evolved in general, honestly.

"I have been very unlucky in lots of situations that should have brought to me and the team a lot of points, and honestly we could both have finished third in the championship. But honestly that is part of racing, it was anyway a very good season and a good marriage between me and Toyota and everybody."

He is right about the bad luck, too. Just imagine what Trulli and Toyota's season could have been like if he had not suffered the drive-through penalty at the Nurburgring, the brake disc failure in Montreal, and the intervention of the Safety Car at Spa-Francorchamps. Those three possible podiums could have lifted him to third overall in the drivers' standing and handed Toyota the same position in the constructors' championship.

But while there are question marks about the ultimate potential of the car, Trulli is determined to make sure this season that there are none about him. He is convinced that he is a driver on the up and that his best is still in the future.

"I would say in the last two to three years, I have been always doing better, getting confident, winning races, getting pole positions, and I think I am on the up. Definitely."

So does that mean Trulli thinks there are specific areas where he can improve? "There is always room. I think there is always room for improvement for anyone, anywhere. I know what I need to improve, but I don't normally talk about it..."

Off-track events have also served to help Trulli achieve a more level-headed approach to life - which in turn should help improve his racing. The arrival of son Enzo last April has, says Trulli, made him a much happier man - which can only serve to help him deal better with the inevitable bad times that are part and parcel of F1 life.

"It just made me happier and gave me a bit more pressure to deliver. The way I think, I have a baby looking at his father at home on TV, and obviously I want to do well for him, because he has to be proud of me."

There is another reason Trulli wants to do well this year - he is chasing a contract for 2007. While Ralf Schumacher signed a lucrative long-term deal when he joined Toyota, Trulli only came on board with a two-year contract - which expires at the end of this season.

Trulli knows that there is competition for his seat, with Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya having been linked with it, but he appears relaxed about the situation.

"Personally, I have several options open," he says. "I am already talking with Toyota, and now we are definitely focused on the 2006 season and we don't want to go, 'blah, blah, blah'.

"We just focus, and when it will be the time, we will say yes or not. That is when we will decide what to do. I want to do well this year for myself and the team, and then we will eventually know better what will happen between Toyota and myself."

Ultimately, if he does a good job, then the contract will take care of itself. And Trulli does not need pushing to do a good job. He is, after all, the archetypal perfectionist.

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- The Autosport.com Team

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