Summary: No points but a fastest lap in the race for Toyota

The Toyota team experienced the worst difficulties in qualifying, reviving the “Monaco syndrome” with poor performances on low-speed urban circuits. Starting far back on the grid for this European Grand Prix, hopes were minimal, but the car showed interesting potential that helped the drivers climb up the rankings.

Jarno Trulli, starting 18th, finishes 13th despite grip issues, while Timo Glock secures 14th place after a pit stop on the first lap… He also sets the fastest lap of the race – his first – indicating that the car is performing well.

It’s therefore a missed opportunity, but one that will quickly be forgotten according to the president, with a new race to be contested in a week.

Jarno Trulli – 13th:

The start wasn’t great and the car hasn’t improved since qualifying, where I was sliding a lot with little grip. So I had the same problem again today and the grip was at the same level as earlier in the weekend during practice. I did my best but there was nothing to do to improve my position. I hope to have a better weekend in Belgium.

Timo Glock – 14th:

It was a shame to see the race start like that because over the race distance we were quite fast, as we were in Budapest. At the first corner, I had to dive inside because the cars in front were braking very hard, so I had to avoid them. I was then hit from behind, and from then on, all the hopes I had of achieving a good result stopped there. But I pushed as hard as possible for the rest of the race to at least gather some data, and we showed what could have happened by setting the fastest lap at the end of the race.

John Howett – President:

« It was clearly not the result we wanted and expected from this Grand Prix. It has been a very difficult weekend, but we need to put this behind us and we have another race next week where we will show our real potential. We need to understand why our qualifying pace is worse than in the race because the car is reasonably competitive, as Timo showed by setting the fastest lap. We need to master this and take advantage of what the car can offer. »