Fantastic weekend for Glock and Toyota
It has been a fantastic weekend for the Toyota team and especially for Timo Glock at Hungaroring in Budapest. The young German collected his first ever GP podium place by finishing the Hungarian GP in second position. Team mate Jarno Trulli came in 7th, collecting more points for the team.
Timo Glock (Car 12, Chassis TF108-06)
Summary: From 5th, he made a strong getaway and gained a place into the first corner. Ran comfortably in 4th place for the second stint and moved up to 3rd after Lewis Hamilton's puncture. Then gained a further place with Felipe Massa's late problem to take his first ever F1 podium and Toyota's best finish of 2008.
Race Classification: 2nd (+11.061s)
Qualifying Classification: 5th Lap Time: 1m 21.326s (+0.427s in Q3) Grid: 5th
"What an incredible feeling. I couldn't believe it when I saw Felipe's engine go and I was P2. To get such a good result in my first year is fantastic so a huge thank you to all the team, including the engineers, mechanics and everyone at the factory. I knew from qualifying that we had good speed and we've looked strong all weekend. Today I made a good start and gained a place into the first corner. I had a really good car and everything went perfectly until the last stint on the soft tyres. I was struggling a lot and soon I had Kimi behind me. But I knew from last year here in GP2, when I was stuck in the midfield in a really good car, how hard it is to pass here. So when I saw him in the mirrors I knew I couldn't afford any mistakes. This result more than makes up for Hockenheim and now we must keep picking up regular points until the end of the season."
Jarno Trulli (Car 11, Chassis TF108-05)
Summary: Starting 9th, he lost a place into the first corner but made it back with a fine passing move on Piquet shortly afterwards. Found himself stuck in traffic for most of the race but battled hard. Just failed to pass Nelson Piquet after the final stops but held on for two valuable points.
Race Classification: 7th (+36.449s)
Qualifying Classification: 9th Lap Time: 1m 21.767s (+0.868s in Q3) Grid: 9th
"This is a very good result for us and to pick up ten points is great for the constructors' championship. I'm glad for Timo because he has had a very good weekend and fully deserves this result. This could have been better for me too, despite my problems in qualifying. I was quick today but I couldn't push because I only had one lap that was clear of traffic in the whole afternoon. I gained one position early on but overtaking is practically impossible here. Around the second stops I was also stuck behind Lewis, holding me up further. Still, I'm delighted that we are showing such strong form and I just hope we can carry on in good shape and with such good results."
Tadashi Yamashina, Team Principal: "I really can't find the words to celebrate this result, the best of our season. We had a few difficulties in practice but during qualifying the drivers pushed themselves to the limit and things got better and better. Today Timo did a fantastic race. We saw immediately that his car was quick and and his third stint was almost perfect. He was under threat from Kimi but he was quick in the third sector and he was able to fend him off. Jarno was quick as well and pushed hard but he was blocked for most of the race he couldn't show his pace until briefly in the last stint. So this is a stunning performance and my thanks go out to the whole team and everyone working in the factory. I'm very appreciative of all their hard work and next we will aim for the centre of the podium."
What's Next?
The Formula 1 world now has a three-week August break from races and tests. Panasonic Toyota Racing will next hit the track to prepare for the European Grand Prix on August 24, the first F1 race at Valencia's new street circuit.
