Assessment: Weekend to forget for Toyota

Toyota knew coming to Monza that it was going to have a difficult weekend, with the TF109 being a particularly unruly car over the curbs. And that was indeed the case. Neither of the two drivers was able to compete for points this Sunday.

Nevertheless, the drivers were smiling at the end of the race after delivering, in the last laps, a battle they described as fun! While trying to find an opening on Kazuki Nakajima at the first chicane, Trulli went wide. Timo Glock took the opportunity to catch up with him, and the two drivers stayed wheel-to-wheel until the first of the two Lesmo corners, where Jarno Trulli, who was on the outside, went into the gravel trap. Aside from this battle, the team experienced a boring race and hopes to play a leading role in Singapore.

Timo Glock – 12th:

« It wasn’t the result we wanted, but at least it was an enjoyable race. I was already fighting with Jarno when I came out of the pits; it was extremely tight, but he got ahead of me. Towards the end, I could see him trying to overtake Kazuki Nakajima, but he hit the curbs and bounced wide. We had a pleasant battle and made sure to keep it clean. In the end, I was on the inside attacking the first Lesmo, so I won the fight. Overall, this weekend has been very tough for us, but Singapore is a different track, and we will have some new updates on the car, so we should fare better there. »

Jarno Trulli – 14th:

« We expected a tough race and that’s what happened. I was behind Kazuki Nakajima most of the time during the race, and I felt that I was capable of going faster, but it was difficult to overtake him. Towards the end, I started getting a bit bored, to be honest, and I tried my best to find an opening. As soon as I saw a small gap, I dived in by braking very late. The move was almost successful, but there wasn’t enough space, and unfortunately, I hit the curb and then had to contend with Timo. It was very nice, and I really enjoyed it. I was always on the outside line, but I kept fighting because it’s better to have some action, and in the end, it doesn’t make a big difference whether I’m 11th or 14th. At least I tried because it wasn’t an exciting race for me otherwise. »

Tadashi Yamashina – Team Director:

« It’s a disappointing race result for us after frustrating qualifying, but we knew it was probably going to be very difficult for us here. At least we provided some exciting action for the fans with Jarno and Timo fighting towards the end of the race; they showed their “fighting spirit.” Monza is a unique circuit that requires an atypical car setup, so I am confident we will improve for the next race in Singapore. It’s a completely different track, and we will work tirelessly to achieve a good result there. »