Disillusioning day for Toyota at Monza
Panasonic Toyota Racing will leave Italy empty-handed following a disappointing afternoon’s work at the Italian Grand Prix. On another sunny day at Monza, Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher lined up in 9th and 18th places on the grid respectively.
Unfortunately Jarno’s car made a poor start and he was down in 13th place when the safety car came out for an accident involving David Coulthard. Jarno regained one position ten laps later because Alexander Wurz cut the chicane while passing him early on. He made his one pit stop on lap 30 and went on to take 11th place. It was also a long afternoon’s work for Ralf, who made up some ground early on his one-stop strategy before bringing the car home in 15th place. Following this disappointment the team will now regroup at Spa-Francorchamps for next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix. The team had a positive test at the Belgian circuit in July and it will now look for a better result in Spa.
Jarno Trulli (Car 12, Chassis TF107/06)
Race Classification 11th (+1m 17.736s) Tyres Used: Medium Soft
Qualifying Classification 9th Time: 1m 24.555s (+2.558s in Q3) Grid: 9th
“It was a pity that we made such a poor getaway because our pace was good today and we could have made the points. Unfortunately once again we had problems at the start. I lost three positions and from then on it was a different race. The car was competitive and consistent but after the first few corners I was in traffic for the rest of the afternoon. I was quicker than the cars in front but it was impossible to overtake here. This shows that when the gaps in the midfield battle are so tight, one little detail can make all the difference and you need to get everything right. We still have a lot of work to do but first we must look for a better result in Spa.”
Ralf Schumacher (Car 11, Chassis TF107/05)
Race Classification 15th (+1 lap) Tyres Used: Medium Soft
Qualifying Classification 18th Time: 1m 23.787s (+2.069s in Q1) Grid: 18th
“That was a very disillusioning result for both of us. It didn’t work very well and it was a struggle for us today. Jarno managed to handle it better than me this weekend but I could see that the race here in Monza would not be our strongest race. We still have some problems with kerbs and that makes a big difference at Monza. The first corner is always chaotic here but today it went relatively smoothly for me. Of course even if you’re at the back you still push hard and I tried to drive as quickly as possible. We have much to analyse but now we must turn our attentions to next race. We had a good test at Spa so we can aim for a better result there.”
Tadashi Yamashina, Team Principal “There were two key issues for us this weekend. First we had Ralf’s result from qualifying. We didn’t expect all the cars to be so close together. So we expected to get both cars into Q2 and I’m sure that could have happened but it was so tight that Ralf missed out. Second was the start on Jarno’s car today. That cost him three positions and when everyone is on the same one-stop strategy that gives you no chance to get past. Jarno was faster than a couple of cars in front but he had no chance to catch up. So we must analyse what the cause was, find where the problem lies and take counter-measures for the next race. But we will never give up the fight.”
