Know the F1 stars: Jarno Trulli
After winning the Italian and then European kart championships he won the German Formula Three championship in 1996, and in 1997 made his debut in F1 with Minardi.
Trulli began his motorsport career driving for Prost at the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix. After winning the Italian and then European kart 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. He stayed at the Prost team for the next two seasons and eventually scored his first podium in wet conditions at the 1999 European Grand Prix.
In 2000 he joined Jordan but in two years with the team Trulli failed to score a podium. Trulli mover to Renault for the Grand Prix at Indianapolis in 2003. Alongside Jenson Button, he often out qualified his British teammate, but was generally shaded in races.
In 2005, early season podiums demonstrated Trulli’s speed and at Indianapolis he took Toyota’s first F1 pole (albeit with very low fuel). For the vast majority of the year he outpaced highly paid team-mate Ralf Schumacher, but a late season dip in form saw him slip to seventh in the championship, two points behind the German.
In 2006, Trulli suffered a very poor start to the season but scored his first points in 2007 in Malaysia, finishing in 7th place after qualifying 8th.
Driving for Toyota at the 2008 French Grand Prix Trulli scored the team’s first podium finish for more than two years.
Timo Glock was confirmed as his team-mate for the season.In the first race of the 2009 season, Trulli started the race from the pitlane due to Toyota’s flexible rear wing that breached regulations.
Both the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock were disqualified and their qualifying times were wiped out. Although Trulli started from the Pit Lane, he finished in an impressive third but was penalised 25 seconds to 12th position for passing Lewis Hamilton under the safety car.
At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Trulli qualified on pole position but faded in the race to place third. However he did record the fastest lap, the only time he has achieved this in his career. He holds the record of having started the most Grands Prix before recording a fastest lap.
FACT FILE
Date of Birth 13/07/1974
Place of Birth Pescara
Nationality Italian
Current team Toyota
Wins 1
Podiums 11
Points 244.5
Grand Prix entered 217
World Championships 0
First race 1997 Australian Grand Prix
First win 2004 Monaco Grand Prix
Last win 2004 Monaco Grand Prix
2008 position 9th (31 pts)
KNOW YOUR STARS
- Trulli’s 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.
- Trulli is married to Barbara and they have two sons, Enzo, named after Trulli’s father, and Marco.
- He is the co-owner of a vineyard in Italy and produces his own wine.
- He also has his own range of Karts named ‘Trulli Kart’. Trulli himself was a World Champion at Karting level.
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