Toyota leaves Monza disappointed
The Toyota team did the best they could at again a wet Monza track. But unfortunately for the Cologne-based outfit, things didn't run as smoothly as during the qualifying session. Timo Glock finished the race in 11th position with team mate Jarno Trulli finishing his home Grand Prix in a disappointing 13th place.
Timo Glock (Car 12, Chassis TF108-06)
Summary: From 9th on the grid, he gained a place at the start but dropped back with a brief spin two laps later. From there he fought hard, retaking positions from Kubica and Alonso before pitting from 5th place on lap 25. Was fuelled to the end but had to come in for another stop eight laps later to change to standard wet tyres as the track dried. Nonetheless he battled well, bringing the car home 11th.
Race Classification: 11th (+58.888s)
Qualifying Classification: 9th Lap Time: 1m 39.787s (+2.232s in Q3) Grid: 9th
"Overall it was just quite a difficult day for us. I made a good start but I lost a couple of seconds soon afterwards when I spun as I tried to overtake Alonso. Early on it was very hard to see through all the spray when the track was at its wettest. It was hard to attack but I still managed to pull off some moves. Then the extra stop cost us the chance to go for points. It's obviously a shame to finish where we did but we were unlucky and our pace shows we can score again in the coming races."
Jarno Trulli (Car 11, Chassis TF108-05)
Summary: From 7th, he made a good getaway at the safety car start and held his place for the first stint. Fuelled long, he was up to 4th by his only planned pit stop. But he then had to come in for a further stop nine laps later to change to the standard wet tyre as the track dried out, dropping him down the order.
Race Classification: 13th (+1m 05.954s)
Qualifying Classification: 7th Lap Time: 1m 39.152s (+1.597s in Q3) Grid: 7th
"In the wet conditions early on I was going well on the heavy wet tyres but we had no luck with the strategy because the timings just didn't work out for us today. When I came in for my pit stop it was still four or five laps too soon for standard wet tyres. That meant we had to pit again shortly afterwards and we lost everything. Later on I was not as competitive because I was sliding around. So it was not our day today. Still, we were expecting this to be a difficult race but the next few races might be better for us. So I remain optimistic because we still have a lot of points to score and the season has been good so far."
Tadashi Yamashina, Team Principal: "Everybody did their best today but the weather did not help us. We qualified well and we went for a one-stop strategy. Unfortunately we were in exactly the wrong window because the teams who did two stops and the teams on a longer one-stop strategy could both time their stops better. We were caught in the middle, just like Nico Rosberg's Williams. Still, we were very quick in the first stint with the extreme wet tyres, the drivers did well and the car's performance was good. But there was not much more we could do today. Congratulations to Toro Rosso for their first win in Formula 1. Now we must look for a better return from the remaining races this year."
What's Next?
Panasonic Toyota Racing will next hit the track for a three-day test at Jerez beginning on Wednesday 17 September. This is the last scheduled test of the season and forms part of preparations for the remainder of 2008. The next racing action takes place in a fortnight's time at Singapore for the first night race in F1 history.
