A Driver A Day - Keeps The Boredom Away

[Sato 0]

OK, Kay isn't able to post today or tomorrow's drivers, so for this time your stuck with me posting them. Today's one is below.

[Sato 0]

Driver 11: Jarno Trulli

Height: 173cm

Weight: 60kg

Teammate: Ralf Schumacher

Races : 167

Victories : 1

Podiums : 7

Pole positions : 3

Fastest Laps : 0

Points : 175

Races finished in points : 50

Jarno Trulli made his Formula One debut in 1997, replacing Tarso Marques in the Minardi, but like most debuts in a bottom team, he suffered from a high rate of retirement. He then moved to Prost where he replaced and injured Panis, where he shone, leading half the race at Austria and finishing fourth in Germany. He left Prost in 2000 when he signed for Jordan after he had caught the attention of Eddie Jordan, he again showed some amazing performances, but reliability and incidents hampered him once again and promising drives resulted in no points. In 2002 he went to Renault and partnered Jenson Button, who he had the upper hand of in qualifying but lost out in the races. There he stayed until 2005 when he moved to Toyota where he is to date, partnering Ralf Schumacher.

[goferrarigo 0]

So basically Trulli has no consistency in any team, his longest time in a team is 2 years?

But i think if toyota is fast/reliable; trulli could at most get a podium, but i see Ralf beating him though

[Quiet One 15]

Trulli belongs to that race of dirvers (no pun intended) that are great, but will never win a race unless they get a much superior car than the rest or by some factor that takes out most of the front runners. Like I said, he is great. He does everything right, something that can't be said about many drivers. He is fast at qualifying, makes few mistakes (used to make lots, but he learns which is also good), is a hell of a defensive driver (like his countryman, Fisi), but...

And in that "but" is the tiny, tiny edge he lacks to be not a WDC like Alonso, but a worthy runner-up like Kimi. Same could be said about others (Wurz, Button, Liuzzi , and many others in the past, too) I have no idea what it is. I think it's part being in the right team at the right time, part being able to push the car past its own limits, no idea...but the difference, though minimal, exists. Some drivers can get past that difference and become true champions, some can't.

I do hope Trulli can become one for I admire this kind of drivers.

[Jem of the Shire 0]

2004 should be mentioned, when he was more than a match for alonso. Sadly that reputation for being quick over 1-lap but not over a whole race is STILL around. Trulli will do well just to prolong his F1 career from now. His best days are behind him

[goferrarigo 0]

2004 should be mentioned, when he was more than a match for alonso. Sadly that reputation for being quick over 1-lap but not over a whole race is STILL around. Trulli will do well just to prolong his F1 career from now. His best days are behind him

How long do you think he will stay in f1 till?

[aussief1 4]

2004 should be mentioned, when he was more than a match for alonso. Sadly that reputation for being quick over 1-lap but not over a whole race is STILL around. Trulli will do well just to prolong his F1 career from now. His best days are behind him

"All aboard the Trulli train"

One of the fastest drivers over one lap in the sport at the moment, he has managed to out qualify his team mate 64% of the time which is not a bad effort. He has 3 pole positions but the statistic that is most telling of his shocking lack of race pace is that Trulli has yet to record a single fastest lap.

How long do you think he will stay in f1 till?

I have my doubts if Jarno will ever drive for a top team again, so in saying that, My guess is as long as Toyota want to employ him.

[Autumnpuma 0]

2004 should be mentioned, when he was more than a match for alonso. Sadly that reputation for being quick over 1-lap but not over a whole race is STILL around. Trulli will do well just to prolong his F1 career from now. His best days are behind him

At that time, Trulli had been around a while and had reached a peak of sorts in his racecraft. Alonso was still developing his racecraft. As we can see, Alonso probably has reached a higher peak than Trulli and is still rising. Most people like to compare Trulli to Alonso without considering this...it's unfair to Alonso and too flattering to Trulli.

Trulli is a karting specialist who never quite got the hang of the longer circuits. He turns flaccid towards the end of a race. Circuits like Monaco, which are basically a big kart track, favor his style but most circuits do not. He should retire back to karting where he'll Trulli be 'appy.

[Sato 0]

At that time, Trulli had been around a while and had reached a peak of sorts in his racecraft. Alonso was still developing his racecraft. As we can see, Alonso probably has reached a higher peak than Trulli and is still rising. Most people like to compare Trulli to Alonso without considering this...it's unfair to Alonso and too flattering to Trulli.

Trulli is a karting specialist who never quite got the hang of the longer circuits. He turns flaccid towards the end of a race. Circuits like Monaco, which are basically a big kart track, favor his style but most circuits do not. He should retire back to karting where he'll Trulli be 'appy.

Indeed, couldn't agree more

[Jem of the Shire 0]

At the end of 07 or 08 Toyota will sack both its drivers, and Trulli will quietly exit from F1

[stopkidding 0]

At the end of 07 or 08 Toyota will sack both its drivers, and Trulli will quietly exit from F1

Toyoto needs a Dr. T to come and shake things up. If I had my way both their drivers and engineers would be placed on pay for performance contracts for 2007. The problem with toyota is that they have so much money they want to solve all problems by throwing money at it, rather than be innovative!

[JayStorm 0]

Yeah, they seem to lack any new ideas and introduce things a year after other teams.

And I still think that it was a mistake to get rid of Mike Gascoigne.

[Sato 0]

Driver 12: Ralf Schumacher

Height: 178cm

Weight: 73kg

Teammate: Jarno Trulli

Races : 163

Victories : 6

Podiums : 25

Pole positions : 6

Fastest Laps : 8

Points : 337

Races finished in points : 87

Ralf joined the Jordan F1 team for the 1997 season to start his Formula One career, partnering Giancarlo Fisichella. After a tough season in his debut year, where he had 10 DNF's, mostly related to accidents, he finally showed some promise in 1998. His first major result was bringing Jordan its first points in the British GP in wet conditions. After that result he showed better speed and consistency, scoring a 2nd in the wet and chaotic Belgium GP. He then joined Williams for 1999 where he put together a very solid season, followed by another good season with Williams in 2000. In 2001 he put together 3 wins, which put him into a battle for 2nd place in the WDC. 2002 wasn't his best year, but he managed to pick up another win in Malaysia and 4th place in the WDC, and 2003 wasn't much kinder despite a good mid-season. 2004 was worse yet, when Williams found themselves outpaced by not only Ferrari but BAR and Renault. To top off a bad season Ralf suffered an injured back after a massive crash at USA. For 2005 he joined the Toyota team, which was a tough season, but Ralf still managed to pick up a pole and two podiums, as well as just beating his teammate Trulli. 2006 was another tough season where the Toyota wasn't competitive for the first half of the year, but the second half of the season saw him scoring points on a fairly regular basis.

[Sato 0]

Sorry if the profile is a bit long and poorly written, as I wrote this one and English never was my favourite or strongest subject.

[pabloh20 1]

Yes, exactly, and more flexibility in designing the car itself, since both drivers are small. Also on average the shorter you are the faster reactions you should have. Small is definitely good in F1, apart from looking silly in pics!

And oh, on topic, I don't rate Ant that high - he has a poor record in the races. Sato certainly has a chance, especially if he's the favoured son in the team.

Did you make that up, Muzza??

[pumpdoc 2]

First on Yarno His last season(partial) at Reno was the highlight, now he's just another driver on the grid in the way of the better drivers. Of course driving for Toyota has not helped.

Ralfie, meh, he drives for Toyota............hmmmmmmmmmmm.........nothing more to say really......

[Quiet One 15]

First on Yarno His last season(partial) at Reno was the highlight, now he's just another driver on the grid in the way of the better drivers. Of course driving for Toyota has not helped.

Ralfie, meh, he drives for Toyota............hmmmmmmmmmmm.........nothing more to say really......

I hate Ralf even more than his brother. When he had the chance to really shine, he backed up either because that would meant getting in his brother's way or something else, I don't know. But he had his chance to prove himslef and blew it up. Certainly not at the same level as his brother. Smiles more often, though, which is quite an accomplishment, driving for Toyota and all.

[Jem of the Shire 0]

Ralfs english is so good he doesnt even sound foreign, however his voice does sound a bit camp.

as for his driving, its strange cos in 1999-2001 he was really impressive at williams, but JPM ruined all that, and since then no-one takes much notice of Ralf. I strongly disagree with the people who say 'he only got into f1 cos of his name' cos Ralf has shown over the years that he fully deserves to be an F1 driver. Will never be a world champion, and moans too much. Can win a race but would have to have the best package and be 'in the right mood'. Like Trulli, Ralf is just prolonging his career. When his toyota contract runs out, i cant see that any other teams will want him. Too much new talent coming through these days

[Quiet One 15]

Ralfs english is so good he doesnt even sound foreign, however his voice does sound a bit camp.

as for his driving, its strange cos in 1999-2001 he was really impressive at williams, but JPM ruined all that, and since then no-one takes much notice of Ralf. I strongly disagree with the people who say 'he only got into f1 cos of his name' cos Ralf has shown over the years that he fully deserves to be an F1 driver. Will never be a world champion, and moans too much. Can win a race but would have to have the best package and be 'in the right mood'. Like Trulli, Ralf is just prolonging his career. When his toyota contract runs out, i cant see that any other teams will want him. Too much new talent coming through these days

Indeed. And they are all cheaper than Ralf!

[Kay 0]

Thanks for posting up and sorting out these ones for me, tomorrow I'll be around to sort out the next driver, but not until late.

[goferrarigo 0]

Ralfs english is so good he doesnt even sound foreign, however his voice does sound a bit camp.

as for his driving, its strange cos in 1999-2001 he was really impressive at williams, but JPM ruined all that, and since then no-one takes much notice of Ralf. I strongly disagree with the people who say 'he only got into f1 cos of his name' cos Ralf has shown over the years that he fully deserves to be an F1 driver. Will never be a world champion, and moans too much. Can win a race but would have to have the best package and be 'in the right mood'. Like Trulli, Ralf is just prolonging his career. When his toyota contract runs out, i cant see that any other teams will want him. Too much new talent coming through these days

Rlaf is statistically is better than Button

I think Ralf and trulli's major problem is the car, it just doesn't go fast, ussually you can say they don't have money to spend on tech, but they do, so i really don't understand the reason why they are so slow.

[Jean Todt 4]

Indeed. And they are all cheaper than Ralf!

indeed!

[Jean Todt 4]

Rlaf is statistically is better than Button

I think Ralf and trulli's major problem is the car, it just doesn't go fast, ussually you can say they don't have money to spend on tech, but they do, so i really don't understand the reason why they are so slow.

Because they are more worried about how good the team looks than how good the score sheet looks like.

The really need good Tech chiefs, they should have chosen Britan as their base. They need guys like Pedro or Wurz to develop their cars, and not guys who complain about their back pain!

[aussief1 4]

The major problem with Ralf is his inability to be consistent IMO. When Ralf is on form, he is one of the best drivers on the grid, when he is not which is more often than not, he is rather ordinary to say the least.

Next...........................

[Autumnpuma 0]

The major problem with Ralf is his inability to be consistent IMO. When Ralf is on form, he is one of the best drivers on the grid, when he is not which is more often than not, he is rather ordinary to say the least.

Next...........................

Ditto.