Saturday: the new Toyota package performs well in qualifying
This weekend is looking more complicated than expected for the Toyota team, but it still has every chance of finishing on the podium. In his car, Jarno Trulli secured 2nd place on the starting grid and came very close to clinching pole position. The Toyota team is confident for the home race and, of course, […]
This weekend is looking more complicated than expected for the Toyota team, but it still has every chance of finishing on the podium. In his car, Jarno Trulli secured 2nd place on the starting grid and came very close to clinching pole position. The Toyota team is confident for the home race and, of course, disappointed not to see Timo Glock alongside the Italian. The German driver ended his qualifying session by finishing in the wall.
Timo Glock was evacuated by helicopter for thorough examinations, the team does not yet know who will drive the 2nd car on Sunday. If Kobayashi is chosen, he will have to go through FIA accreditation.
Jarno Trulli – 1st and 2nd:
« It was a crazy qualifying session with all those red flags. Obviously, I’m very disappointed for Timo, as we could have both started at the front of the grid. But it was reassuring to quickly hear from the team that he was okay. I’m really happy with this result, especially in front of all our Japanese fans. The whole team did an excellent job this weekend with our package to give me this chance to qualify on the front row. They provided me with a car to fight at the front, and I want to say thank you to them. »
« My priority in qualifying was to maintain my concentration because I knew we had a good chance of getting a good result. I think my lap time was the maximum I could get out of the car, I am very happy with its performance. »
« Now I am excited to race tomorrow, as obviously my goal will be to finish on the podium for the team’s national Grand Prix. I will do my best to achieve an excellent result. »
Pascal Vasselon – Technical Director:
« Overall, it was a very good day for Jarno, who confirmed that our package works really well on this type of circuit. We already saw this morning that Jarno was having a great day. We are obviously disappointed to miss out on pole position by less than a tenth of a second, but confident in our strategy. For Timo, it was a different story. We are frustrated that he is not where we expected, but fortunately, he is okay. That’s the priority, he had a big impact. The telemetry data shows no sign of anything unusual on that lap. »
