(born
13 July ,
1974 ) is an
Italian Formula One Auto Racing driver currently in the employ of the
Toyota team.
Trulli was born in
Pescara ,
Abruzzo .
His parents were motorsport fans, and named their son after
Jarno Saarinen , the
Finnish Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing champion who had been killed at
Monza in
1973 . This Finnish forename caused a certain amount of confusion when he first entered Formula One, with many not initially realising that he was Italian. His father's enthusiasm also meant that, like many successful racers, he was involved in
Karting from an early age.
After winning the Italian and then European Go-Karts championships he won the German
Formula Three championship in
1996 , and in
1997 made his debut in F1 with
Minardi . After 7 races he replaced the injured
Olivier Panis at
Prost and impressed immediately, finishing fourth at the
German Grand Prix and even leading the
Austrian Grand Prix , looking set to finish 2nd until his engine blew. He stayed at the Prost team for the next two seasons and eventually scored his first podium at the
1999 European Grand Prix .
However, this was a rare highlight in a race few of the main front-runners finished, and rhe poor performance of the Prost team convinced him that a switch to Jordan would bring improved results. In
2000 he moved to the Irish squad, but the team was no longer the force it had been in the late 90s. In his two years with Jordan, Trulli failed to score a podium, but did impress with a series of brilliant qualifying displays. During this period suggestions were made that Trulli was more of a qualifying specialist than an out-and-out fast race driver, a charge he frequently denied. Under long-term contract to Flavio Briatore, Trulli found himself at Renault in 2002. Alongside Jenson Button, he often outqualified the Brit, but was generally shaded in the races. Regardless of Button's improved pace that season, it was Trulli who stayed at Renault for 2003, to partner promoted tester Fernando Alonso.
at
Indianapolis in 2003]]
The 2003 Renault was a strong car and in Alonso's hands won the Hungarian Grand Prix. Trulli struggled to attain similar results, but did achieve a podium in Germany, his first since leaving Prost. Mindful of how much Alonso had outperformed him in 2003, Trulli improved markedly the next year. For the first half of the season he was the better of the two Renault drivers, racking up regular points and podiums. At Monaco he finally took his first victory after a brilliant display from pole position. Having performed so well the Italian was eager to stick with the team for 2005, but his relationship with team-boss Briatore soured. A last corner error which allowed Barrichello onto the podium in France enraged the team and from that point onwards his days with the French manufacturer were numbered. He received more criticism for losing 2 points for the team than Fernando did when he crashed out of 2nd in Italy later that year. For the second half of 2004 Trulli failed to gain any points and was consistently off the pace during races. He later accused the team of favouring Alonso, but the reason why his 2004 season deteriorated have never been properly identified. With three races left that season he was sacked, Jacques Villeneuve his replacement. Fortunately Trulli had a Toyota deal lined up for 2005 and the early exit from Renault allowed him to race for his new team in the last two events of 2004.
His 2005 season was good. Early season podiums demonstrated that he was back on the pace and at Indianapolis he took Toyota's first F1 pole (albeit with very low fuel). For the vast majority of the year he outclassed highly paid team-mate Ralf Schumacher, but a late season dip in form saw him slip to 7th in the championship, two points behind the German.
in early 2006]]
Trulli is undoubtedly very fast. Over one lap few drivers can match his accuracy, speed and precision. Yet the doubts over his racecraft refuse to go away. In the past two years he has improved noticeably, but poor showings can still occur. His apparent lack of pace in some races in 2005 was, on several occasions, observed to lead to a significant proportion of the field bunching up behind the Toyota in a phenomenon affectionately nicknamed 'the Trulli train' by journalists and commentators. Whether this effect was due to an actual lack of race pace on Trulli's part, a disparity between performance over one-lap and race distance from the Toyota TF105, or simply Trulli's sensational ability to extract more pace from the car in qualifying than, on paper, it was able to give was the subject of some debate, though the quality of Trulli's performances and pure single-lap pace have led the final to become the prevailing view. He has suffered some very poor luck throughout his career, but there are times when he has simply failed to capitalise on his chances. Regardless, he still remains one of the sport's leading drivers, although question marks remain. ITV's expert
Martin Brundle has in the past expressed his own doubts about Trulli's race pace.
Jarno is married to Barbara and they have one son, Enzo (b.
2005 ), named after Jarno's father.
- 1997 Formula One Season — Minardi-Hart ; Prost Mugen-Honda — 0 wins, 12 points, finished 15th
- 1998 Formula One Season — Prost Peugeot — 0 wins, 1 point, finished 15th
- 1999 Formula One Season — Prost Peugeot — 0 wins, 7 points, finished 11th
- 2000 Formula One Season — Jordan Mugen-Honda — 0 wins, 6 points, finished 10th
- 2001 Formula One Season — Jordan Mugen-Honda — 0 wins, 12 points, finished 9th
- 2002 Formula One Season — Renault — 0 wins, 9 points, finished 8th
- 2003 Formula One Season — Renault — 0 wins, 33 points, finished 8th
- 2004 Formula One Season — Renault ; Toyota — 1 win at Monaco , 46 points, finished 6th
- 2005 Formula One Season — Toyota — 0 wins, 43 points, finished 7th
TOTAL =
- 1997 : Jarno Berens beats Jarno Trulli for the Dutch kartingtitle.
- 1996 : 1st German Formula 3 (KMS Dallara-Opel)
- 1995 : 4th in German Formula 3 (KMS Dallara-Opel), 1st in Italian Go-kart class 100 FA, 1st in World Go-kart class 125FC, Senna Memorial World Cup winner
- 1994 : Senna Memorial World Cup winner, 1st in North American class 100SA, 1st in European class 100SA
- 1993 : 2nd in World Go-kart Champion class 100 SA, 1st in Grand Prix of Japan Class 100 FSA
- 1992 : 2nd in World Go-kart class 125 FC
- 1991 : 1st in World Go-kart class 100 FK
- 1990 : 1st in Grand Prix of Hong Kong Class 100 FA
- 1988 - 90 : Three times 1st in Italian National 100 Class
- 1983 - 95 : Karting
