Jarno Trulli

Jarno Trulli

Name: Jarno Trulli

Nationality: Italy

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Like many of his F1 peers, Jarno Trulli hails from a karting background, where he was regarded as a rare talent.

Using the 1996 German F3 Championship as a stepping stone, the Italian started his F1 career with Minardi in 1997 before switching to the more competitive Prost team midway through the season after Olivier Panis was injured at the Canadian GP.

On the Frenchman's return, Trulli handed back the drive, although a fourth place at Hockenheim and a scorching Austrian GP - where he led before suffering a blown engine - was enough to secure a permanent seat alongside Panis the following year.

However, a woefully inadequate car meant a frustrating 1998 season, Trulli's only bright spot being a sixth place in the crash-strewn Belgian GP at Spa.

Alas, 1999 brought more of the same, with Trulli joining Jordan the following season as team-mate to Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

The Frentzen/Jordan combination had been title contenders the previous season but the team had peaked and, despite some strong qualifying performances - including second on the grid in Monaco - Trulli could only finish 10th in the Drivers' Championship.

Jarno put his faith in the Honda engine making them more competitive in 2001. But once again Trulli flattered to deceive, the Italian often qualifying well, but failing to deliver when it came to the race.

Such a scenario has tended to blight his F1 career.

His best results in 2001 were fourth-place finishes in Indianapolis and Barcelona. He ended the year ninth overall with 12 points.

In 2002 he swapped teams with Giancarlo Fisichella and seemed to get much the better deal at Renault.

He outgunned new team-mate Jenson Button in qualifying, though by mid-season Jarno was getting the more powerful evolution of Renault engines if one were to blow up in practice.

Yet his reputation as 'a bit of a choker' was not enhanced during the year and Button easily outraced and ultimately outscored him.

The following season was another frustrating one for Jarno. Bedevilled by misfortune and a lack of reliability, his reputation took a battering as another Flavio Briatore protégé, Fernando Alonso, took the plaudits with a series of stunning drives.

However, the Italian more than matched F1's latest bright young thing in the first half of the 2004 season.

His run of form culminated in a faultless drive at Monaco, in which Trulli held off a hard-charging Button to earn his maiden F1 win.

Yet even in the immediate aftermath of victory Flavio Briatore indicated that he wouldn't be renewing Trulli's contract at Renault.

From this point onwards Trulli's performances declined at the same rate as his relationship with the team.

After a series of lacklustre performances, and amid accusations by Jarno that Renault were providing him with an inferior product, the team dropped him with three races remaining.

It had been confirmed in the previous month that he had signed a long-term contract with Toyota and Trulli thus made an immediate switch to his new employers, making his debut at the Japanese GP.

Supplied with the disappointing TF104, his performances were steady if unspectacular.

He entered the 2005 season determined to fulfil Toyota's promise of podium finishes and, in the event, it didn't take the Italian long.

Trulli scored three podium finishes in the first five races - including two seconds places in Malaysia and Bahrain.

However, his performances petered out as the season progressed and, at the Chinese GP, he was eventually overhauled by team-mate Ralf Schumacher in the Drivers' Championship.

Remaining with Toyota for a second full season, Jarno struggled to score points in the first half of 2006 as reliability issues dogged him.

In fact his first points of the season only came in the Canadian GP, round nine of the Championship.

It was a disappointing campaign for the Italian, who finished the year on 15 points and down in 12th place.

Jarno scored his first points of the 2007 season in Malaysia, finishing seventh after qualifying eighth.

A couple more points followed in Bahrain, but he stalled on the grid at the start of the Spanish GP and dropped out during the early laps due to mechanical failure.

Monaco brought no better fortune for Trulli, as he finished down in 15th place, just ahead of team-mate Schumacher, after qualifying his season-worst 14th.

His second retirement of the season followed in Canada, before he was back in the points at the United States GP, finishing sixth.

After a series of non-scoring runs, Trulli said the result was "incredible".

With Timo Glock replacing Schumacher, 2008 yielded more for Toyota, with Trulli gaining a podium finish in France on his way to ninth place in the Drivers' Championship - his best result in three seasons.

Trulli and Glock stay together this year as Toyota look to exploit wholesale regulation changes in their efforts to secure a first race win.