Jarno Trulli eyes a home podium

Jarno Trulli, the Italian driver of Toyota, is looking forward to this weekend. Jarno wants to win the Grand Prix in his fatherland and also the very first victory for his team. Of course he's not the only one who has ambitions to be spraying champaign at Monza.

Toyota is looking for more points in its strongest season ever in Formula One. Monza is one of the calendar's traditional and historic venues and everyone is looking forward to the fast track with long straights. In the constructors championship, Toyota stands in 4th place, only 15 points behind Ferrari. Jarno Trulli and team mate Ralf Schumacher will have to push hard to close the gap, but it's not impossible.

Trulli is not only looking forward to the Italian GP because it's a special atmosphere for him to ride his home Grand Prix at Monza, he also loves the circuit, because it is still the quickest on the Formula One calendar, so it puts more pressure on the performance of the engine so Trulli hopes to prove that the car is very reliable this year.

Jarno Trulli "It is always nice to return to Monza. I like the place, I like the atmosphere and I have usually had good results there. The main characteristic of Monza is the speed of the circuit. Good straight- line speed is essential so you run with very little wing. That means the car feels very light to drive and it can be nervous, so it is essential to drive smoothly. Because you run with such a low level of downforce, that has an effect under braking and acceleration, not just in the corners. There is a lot of hard braking and you have to brake earlier than you do anywhere else. The main
factor that can affect tyres is blistering, so that's what we have to minimise, particularly coming out of the slow corners. You also need good traction, so the engine is important but it's also crucial to have a good aero package. I'm looking forward to the weekend and it will be great to go there with a car that can challenge for the points or even a podium."

Luca Marmorini- Technical Director Engine "Engine performance is a key issue at Monza. It is a high speed track for which engine power is very important, but reliability is also crucial. We will run at full throttle for more than 75% of the lap, which makes Monza – together with Spa-Francorchamps a week later – one of the most challenging tracks for reliability.
Traction is important, but in order to go quickly around Monza it is even more important to ride the kerbs well. When it comes to set- up, that makes it a difficult compromise for getting the quickest possible lap time. We run with one of the lowest downforce levels of the year, but we use a specific set-up for Monza. Like all the other teams, we will make full use of the data gleaned from last week's test at the circuit to ensure we hit the ground running as soon as Friday free practice gets under way."