24.08.2008


Behind the scenes

The inaugural Valencia street race began a series of three European events before the championship heads for its climax in the Far East and Brazil. It came on the back of a summer break that saw Jarno Trulli head for the USA missing from the F1 schedule this year of course where he caught up with ex F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya.

It was great to take my wife down there, catch up with Juan Pablo and spend some time in Miami and on the beach, Jarno said. Altogether a good place to pick up the ambiance of a hip city vibe with expensive boats in the harbour! When he joined Timo at the track in Valencia it was quickly back down to business starting with learning the new circuit on Wednesday. Both drivers headed off around the 5.419km track on scooters, stopping on the way to get a closer look at the finer details. With 12 years of Formula 1 behind him, it was no wonder Jarno was not worried about a new lay-out, although it was experience from his early days that he drew on to prepare.
I come from karting and we used to do a lot of street circuits, he said. Within five or ten laps you have learnt the circuit and it was the same here. He easily got to grips with the new track and his first three flying laps saw his times improve by over three seconds.

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Felipe Massa made up for the disappointment of his engine failure just three laps from the finish in Hungary when he won his fourth Grand Prix of the season in Valencia and moved to within six points of Lewis Hamiltons championship lead. Massa claimed his fourth pole position of the season and set fastest lap en route to his victory. This time it was world champion Kimi Raikkonens turn to encounter mechanical problems. Raikkonen, who has not won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix back in April, suffered an engine failure as he was chasing Jarno for fifth place. He now lies third in the championship with 57 points to Massas 64 and Hamiltons 70. Robert Kubica is just two points behind world champion Raikkonen in the title chase after his fifth podium finish of the season in Valencia. Kubica finished 37s behind race winner Massa and 2.3s clear of Kovalainens McLaren. Massa had a nervous few post-race moments as stewards considered an incident leaving his second pit stop when he almost had a brush with Adrian Sutils Force India. The stewards decided that although a breach of the regulations had been committed (unsafe release from pit stop) his result would not be affected as no competitive advantage was gained. Massa received a reprimand and a 10,000 fine.

Race Report

Panasonic Toyota Racing scored points with both cars in the European Grand Prix, the inaugural race on Valencias dramatic new street circuit. Jarno Trulli finished in fifth place with Timo Glock seventh as the team consolidated its fourth place in the Constructors Championship with six races remaining. Jarno was not entirely happy with his car balance on the first day of practice and then lost Saturday morning free practice with a gearbox oil pump problem. But in qualifying he did an amazing job to be fastest of all in Q1 and just 0.08s from the ultimate Q2 pace. His inexperience of the car on a heavier fuel load hurt his Q3 performance, however, and he lined up seventh.

From the cleaner side of the grid Jarno made a strong start and, adopting a two-stop strategy with pit visits on laps 19 and 41, he vaulted ahead of Sebastian Vettel at the first stop and then took advantage of a pit stop problem for Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen at the second stop.
Jarno said: This shows how good we are getting and how nice it is to race with a competitive car every weekend. Toyota is doing a very good job this year and looking strong and more competitive at every circuit. The team is still pushing with the development work so I'm confident that we can maintain the form in the coming races and keep the points coming.
Timo came to Valencia following his first Formula 1 podium, at the Hungaroring, and enjoyed a strong opening day of practice. However, he was disappointed not to make it through to Q3 and lined up 13th on the grid. His weekend was not helped by a heavy cold, but he made a superb start to get past three cars on the opening lap, moving up to 10th. The team opted for a one-stop strategy as the best option to get Timo into the points and that paid off. He drove well on a heavy fuel load with prime tyres in the opening stint, holding off lighter cars and moving into the points as his rivals pitted for the first time. A long stint on the super soft option Bridgestone followed and Timo again showed strong pace despite his heavy cold, setting fast laps right to the chequered flag after moving up to seventh when Raikkonens Ferrari stopped.
Timo said: That was one of my hardest races ever because I have had a bad cold for the last two days. But I had a good car and the right strategy and I think P7 was the best result we could have achieved today so I'm really happy. Considering our qualifying and my condition, I am happy. It's a great result for the team to get both cars into the points for the Constructors' Championship.

With another strong points finish in the bag, the team is now looking forward to ending the season on a high note.
This has turned into one of those good weekends, said Chairman and Team Principal Tadashi Yamashina. After qualifying, everybody was a bit disappointed but today went much better due to excellent teamwork. I'm very happy that we are confirming our good pace. Now we will push to keep these results coming, with a particular eye on the Japanese Grand Prix later in the season.
The team is now 10 points ahead of Renault in fourth in the Constructors Championship.