Assessment: A new podium for Toyota

Toyota returns to the podium in a spectacular Singapore Grand Prix where Timo Glock equaled his and the team’s best result in Formula 1 with second place. Glock stepped onto the third podium of his career, his second of the season, and can thank Rosberg and Vettel for handing him two spots.

After a Friday that saw him progress from 15th to 8th place between the two sessions, Timo Glock continued his upward momentum to qualify on the third row, surpassing, which is quite rare and noteworthy, Jarno Trulli. His charge forward continued in the first laps of the race during which he managed to take fifth place. Jarno Trulli started the race with a heavy fuel load from the fifteenth position and quickly lost two places. Glock made his first pit stop on the 19th lap and could already at that moment, envision a podium finish. As for Jarno Trulli, he took advantage of the safety car coming out two laps later to refuel, rejoining the track in 14th position.

Timo Glock, in his second stint, was gifted third place by Rosberg, who had to serve a “drive through.” He then had to hold off Fernando Alonso and regained the track in second position after Vettel also received a “drive through.” Trulli worked his way up to the top 10 before his second late pit stop and couldn’t do better than 12th. With this fourth podium of the season, Toyota widens the gap over Williams for 5th place in the constructors’ championship.

Timo Glock – 2nd:

« It was a really positive weekend, and it’s a great reward for the team. After a solid qualifying performance, the pace was good during the race. I’m really happy for the team and myself. It was important for me to pass Alonso in the first lap, and I was disappointed not to have managed it on the first attempt. I saw that he was battling with Webber, and I sneaked through. It proved to be worthwhile because after that, our strategy worked well. Then, I focused on my race pace, and we didn’t make a single mistake. It’s a brilliant result for Toyota ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. It’s important for everyone in the team: the mechanics, the engineers, as well as the people working hard in Cologne and Japan. I hope we will be just as competitive in Suzuka next weekend. »

Jarno Trulli – 12th:

This was a very difficult race, and few things went well for me. As soon as I managed to get out of the traffic, the safety car came out… at the wrong time for me. I wasn’t particularly competitive this weekend, I kept struggling with traction, so we will need to look into that. The positive point is Timo’s second place, it’s an excellent result for the team, they really deserve it. Timo had a great race and I’m glad he finished on the podium. It’s also good news for us in the constructors’ standings.

Tadeshi Yamashina – Team Director:

I am extremely happy to be back on the podium and fighting at the front again. Timo did a fantastic job this weekend, as did the whole team. Everything went perfectly with Timo today; his pit stops were very good and he drove very well. Jarno did his best but unfortunately, we knew it would be difficult after qualifying. Being on the podium again is a particularly satisfying result, especially just a few days before our home Grand Prix in Japan. Suzuka should suit our car better than Singapore, so we can expect to be very competitive there too. I would like to thank the team for the work done to achieve such a great result and I look forward to another strong performance next weekend.