Jarno Trulli | |
|---|---|
 Trulli in 2014 | |
| Born | (1974-07-13)13 July 1974 (age 51) Pescara, Abruzzo, Italy |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingEnzo |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Italian |
| Active years | 1997–2011 |
| Teams | Minardi,Prost,Jordan,Renault,Toyota,Team Lotus |
| Entries | 256 (252 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 11 |
| Careerpoints | 246.5 |
| Pole positions | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 1997 Australian Grand Prix |
| First win | 2004 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Formula E career | |
| Years active | 2014–2016 |
| Teams | Trulli |
| Car number | 10 |
| Starts | 11 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Poles | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 20th in2014–15 |
Jarno Trulli (Italian pronunciation:[ˈjarnoˈtrulli]; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian formerracing driver andmotorsport executive, who competed inFormula One from1997 to2011. Trulli won the2004 Monaco Grand Prix withRenault.
He regularly competed inFormula One from 1997 to 2011, driving forMinardi,Prost,Jordan,Renault,Toyota andLotus. His best result in theWorld Drivers' Championship was sixth place in2004, also the year in which he scored his sole victory at theMonaco Grand Prix. Throughout his Formula One career, Trulli was renowned for his skill in qualifying, regularly achieving far better grid positions than rivals with superior cars to his own.[1] He was also known for his defensive driving style which allowed him to successfully hold off quicker drivers, sometimes for an entire race. The combination of being able to achieve high grid positions in relatively slow cars, combined with his ability to hold off faster drivers, would often result in a line of vehicles forming behind him during a race, commonly referred to as the 'Trulli Train' by fans and media.[2]
Trulli was set to remain in Formula One for2012, but retired before the season began. He competed in theinaugural season ofFormula E, founding and competing forTrulli GP. Trulli is the father of racing driverEnzo Trulli.
His parents were motorsport fans and named their son afterJarno Saarinen, theFinnishGrand Prix motorcycle racing champion who was killed atMonza in 1973. He started racing inkarts at an early age; after winning theKarting World Championship in 1991, the Italian karting championship and several otherkarting championships in different categories up to 1995, Trulli won theGerman Formula Three Championship in 1996.
In 1997, Trulli made his debut in Formula One withMinardi. After 7 races he replaced the injuredOlivier Panis atProst and impressed immediately, finishing fourth inGermany[3] and even leading inAustria, looking set to finish second until his engine blew.[4] He stayed at the Prost team for the next two seasons and eventually scored his first podium in wet conditions at the1999 European Grand Prix.[5] However, this was a rare highlight in a race few of the main front-runners finished, and the poor performance of the Prost team convinced him that a switch toJordan would bring improved results.[6]
In2000 he moved to the Irish squad,[6] but the team was no longer the force it had been in the late 1990s. In his two years with Jordan, Trulli failed to score a podium, but did impress with a series of brilliant qualifying displays. During this period suggestions were made that Trulli was more of a qualifying specialist than an out-and-out fast race driver, a charge he frequently denied. Under a long-term contract with his personal manager (andRenault manager)Flavio Briatore, Trulli secured a contract with the Anglo-French squad for2002.[7]
AlongsideJenson Button, he often outqualified his British teammate, but was generally shaded in races. Regardless of Button's improved pace that season, it was Trulli who stayed at Renault for 2003 to partner promoted test-driverFernando Alonso.[8] The 2003 Renault was a strong car and in Alonso's hands won inHungary.[9] Trulli struggled to attain similar results, but did achieve a podium inGermany, his first since leaving Prost.[10]
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Mindful of how much Alonso had outperformed him in2003, Trulli improved markedly the next year. For the first half of the season he was the better of the two Renault drivers, racking up regular points and podiums.[11] AtMonaco he finally took his only victory after a brilliant display from pole position.[12][13] Having performed so well, the Italian was eager to stick with the team for 2005, but his relationship with team-boss Briatore soured. A last corner error which allowedFerrari'sRubens Barrichello onto the podium inFrance enraged the team,[14] and from that point his days with the French manufacturer were numbered.[11] He did not score any points after the French Grand Prix and was consistently off the pace during races. He later accused the team of favouring Alonso, but the reasons why his 2004 season deteriorated have never been properly identified.[15] He was sacked three races before the end of the season and replaced by1997World ChampionJacques Villeneuve, despite leading his teammate in the championship at that point.[16] Trulli had already agreed to drive forToyota in 2005, and his early exit from Renault allowed him to take up his new seat for the last two races of the 2004 season, replacingRicardo Zonta.[17]
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In 2005, early season podiums demonstrated Trulli's speed and at Indianapolis he took Toyota's first Formula One pole.[18] However, he, his teammate and the majority of the grid, did not enter the race due to usingMichelin tyres, which were not safe to race.[19] For the vast majority of the year he outpaced his highly paid teammateRalf Schumacher, but a late season dip in form saw him slip to seventh in the championship, two points behind the German.[20]
In2006, Trulli suffered a very poor start to the season. On the first lap of theAustralian Grand Prix, he was taken out byDavid Coulthard.[21] He seemed to be outpaced by teammateRalf Schumacher more often than not, but finally scored his first points of the season when he raced to 6th from 4th on the grid at theCanadian Grand Prix.[21] Following this was a 4th place in theUnited States Grand Prix.[21] From then on, he would only score 3 more times, with a couple of 7th-place finishes in theGerman Grand Prix and theItalian Grand Prix and also a 6th place in theJapanese Grand Prix, where his car became troublesome to drive mid-race, andRalf Schumacher was delayed in the process.[22] Trulli was racing very well in the season finale atInterlagos, but his car suffered suspension failure in the first 10 laps, a fate which befell his teammate at the same time.[23] He finished 12th overall.
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Trulli scored his first points of2007 inMalaysia, finishing in 7th place after qualifying 8th.[24] A couple more points followed inBahrain,[25] but he stalled on the grid at the start of theSpanish Grand Prix and dropped out during the early laps due to mechanical failure.[26]Monaco brought no better fortune for Trulli, as he finished down in 15th place, just ahead of teammate Schumacher, after qualifying his season-worst 14th.[27][28] Points were collected by Trulli at theIndianapolis for 6th place. After a series of non-scoring runs, Trulli said that the result was 'incredible'.[29] He also qualified well for theFrench Grand Prix but crashed with theRenault ofHeikki Kovalainen on the opening lap, and duly retired because of the damage.[30] Trulli accepted the blame for the incident. The second half of the season was disappointing with Trulli's only point coming in the final race of the season atBrazil.[31]
Trulli finished the championship in 13th position, collecting only 8 points. Post season there had been reports that Trulli's contract was not safe, and that he may have been replaced in theToyota team for 2008 byHeikki Kovalainen.[32] These proved unfounded as Kovalainen signed forMcLaren.[33]
In2008, Trulli was hoping Toyota would make a big step forward.[34]Timo Glock was confirmed as his teammate for the season.[35] Trulli started the season quite well, with several points scoring finishes, the height of which was a fourth-place finish inMalaysia.[36] Trulli's qualifying performances were also very good throughout the first few rounds of theChampionship. His form then slumped a little, with disappointing performances inTurkey andMonaco, as he finished in non-points scoring positions.
However, he bounced back from this with a 6th-place finish inMontreal.[37] He then topped that in France by finishing on the podium in 3rd place, holding off the challenge of Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica in the closing laps.[38]
He qualified on the front row alongside pole-sitter Felipe Massa for the season-endingBrazilian Grand Prix, which was to decide the 2008 world championship between Massa andLewis Hamilton.[39] During the race, Trulli had several close shaves in the changeable weather conditions, and eventually finished 8th. His teammate Glock played a pivotal part in the title outcome as he was passed by Hamilton on the last corner of the race, which gave the Englishman the championship by one point from Massa, who won easily.[40] Trulli finished 8th in the Drivers' Championship standings, collecting 31 points, 4 more than his teammate.[41]
Trulli was confident going into2009.[42] In thefirst race of the 2009 season, the Toyotas of Trulli and Glock started the race from the pitlane as their qualifying times were disallowed due to Toyota's flexible rear wing breaching regulations.[43] Although Trulli started from the pit lane, he finished in an impressive 3rd place before being penalised 25 seconds, dropping him to 12th position for passing Lewis Hamilton under the safety car.[44] A few days after this decision, Hamilton was disqualified from the race results for 'misleading' the race stewards by insisting that Jarno Trulli had passed him under the Safety Car although Hamilton in fact let him pass on purpose due to an order given by the team from the pitlane.[45] Jarno Trulli therefore regained his third-place finish.[46] At theBahrain Grand Prix, Trulli qualified onpole position[47] but due to an unconventional tyre strategy, he finished third.[48] 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.[49]
He crashed out of theSpanish Grand Prix after being forced off the track at the second corner and being collected byAdrian Sutil,[50] and then had a poor performance inMonaco as the Toyotas qualified on the back row of the grid.[51] Improvements saw him score points in three of the next four races, before the following four rounds saw him struggle again as he failed to finish in the Top 10. At theSingapore Grand Prix he placed 12th while teammate Glock was second.[52] Trulli then fought back at theJapanese Grand Prix – which would prove to be Toyota's last home race – by qualifying and finishing second.[53]
He then qualified fourth in torrential conditions inBrazil,[54] but like in Spain collided with Adrian Sutil on the opening lap of the race, an incident which enraged Trulli as he blamed Sutil for the crash. His obvious display of anger towards Sutil (who also retired) afterwards earned him a $10,000 fine.[55][56] Trulli finished seventh at the season finale inAbu Dhabi scoring his final points in Toyota F1's last race.[57][58]
On 14 December 2009, Trulli was confirmed as one of the newly formedLotus team's drivers, joining formerMcLaren driverHeikki Kovalainen.[59] He only finished one of the opening four races, a weaker reliability record than Kovalainen, leading him to note that "everything happens on my car and my car only – so to this day, my expectations have not been met".[60]
At the launch of theLotus T127, Trulli admitted in an interview withAutosport thatUS F1 andSauber had been in contact with him.[61] In late 2009, Trulli was asked to test aNASCAR stock car in North America for Toyota. The car was set up byMichael Waltrip Racing.
Trulli continued to drive forLotus in2011, with Lotus Racing being renamed Team Lotus. He again partnered Heikki Kovalainen.[62]
Trulli's season started with thirteenth inAustralia,[63] before a retirement with a clutch problem inMalaysia.[64] Trulli finished each of the next six races, equalling his best season finish of thirteenth inMonaco.[65] InBritain, he retired with an oil leak.[66] For theGerman Grand Prix, Trulli was replaced by reserve driverKarun Chandhok.[67] When he returned inHungary, he retired due to a water leak; his teammate Kovalainen retired some laps later with an identical problem.[68] He finished 14th at both theBelgian Grand Prix and theItalian Grand Prix, where it was announced that Trulli would be retained for the2012 season.[69][70] After retiring inSingapore with a gearbox failure, Trulli finished 19th inJapan, 17th inKorea and 19th again, inIndia.
Team Lotus was renamed toCaterham F1 ahead of the 2012 season.[71] Trulli drove in one pre-season test, but on 17 February 2012 it was announced that Trulli was replaced byVitaly Petrov.[72][73] Following, Trulli stated that he was "really proud" to have helped Caterham become a Formula One team.[74]
This left Formula One without an Italian driver for the first time since1969, untilAntonio Giovinazzi competed in the2017 Australian Grand Prix.[75]
In2014–15 season Trulli drove in the inauguralFIA Formula E Championship for his own teamTrulli GP in partnership withDrayson Racing Technologies andSuper Nova Racing, as announced on 18 June 2014. After failing to pass scrutineering of their new drivetrain for the first two races of the2015–16 season, the team withdrew from the championship.[76]
Trulli's original helmet design was white with a blue shape around the visor with a blue circle in the top and a green J with a red T in the sides. A ring around the blue circle was incorporated when he raced at Jordan and Renault, being coloured after the team's main sponsor. In 2004 his helmet changed from white to chromed silver and the shape, the J and the T became chromed with black outline. Later, in his first Toyota years the top became red and was added a white ring around the red circle. Finally in 2008 the helmet turned red with the J and the T of the original colours (and white outline) plus a white line on the chin area. From his Lotus years, the helmet design remained intact, with the change of the shades of colour from chromed to normal shades (the chromed silver becomes white).[77][78]
Trulli is married to Barbara and they have two sons,Enzo Trulli (b. 2005), named after Trulli's father, and Marco (b. 2006), and a daughter Veronica (b. 2014). He is the co-owner of a vineyard in theAbruzzo region inItaly and produces his own wine.[79] He also has his own range ofKarts named 'Trulli Kart'; Trulli himself was a World Champion at Karting level.[80] His son Enzo is also pursuing career in motorsports he competed in the WSK karting series,[81] before starting single seater racing inF4 UAE in 2021, and for 2022 at present inFIA Formula 3 Championship.[82]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Pts | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | KMS | Opel | A | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | AVU 1 | AVU 2 | NOR 1 8 | NOR 2 DSQ | DIE 1 DSQ | DIE 2 6 | NÜR 1 4 | NÜR 2 2 | ALE 1 8 | ALE 2 4 | MAG 1 5 | MAG 2 17 | HOC 1 1 | HOC 2 1 | 4th | 95 | [85] |
| 1996 | Opel Team KMS | Opel | A | HOC 1 1 | HOC 2 1 | NÜR 4 | NÜR 1 6 | NÜR 2 5 | NOR 1 3 | NOR 2 1 | DIE 1 3 | DIE 2 1 | NÜR 1 2 | NÜR 2 2 | MAG 1 11 | MAG 2 5 | HOC 1 1 | HOC 2 1 | 1st | 206 | [86] | |
Source:[83] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
† Trulli did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he had completed over 90% of the race distance.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Powertrain | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–15 | Trulli Formula E Team | SparkSRT01-e | SRT01-e | BEI Ret | PUT 16 | PDE 4 | BUE Ret | MIA 15 | LBH Ret | MCO 11 | BER 19† | MSC 18† | LDN 15 | LDN Ret | 20th | 15 |
| 2015–16 | Trulli Formula E Team | SparkSRT01-e | Motomatica JT-01 | BEI | PUT DNP | PDE | BUE | MEX | LBH | PAR | BER | LDN | LDN | NC | 0 | |
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | German Formula Three Champion 1996 | Succeeded by |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Lorenzo Bandini Trophy 2000 | Succeeded by |
| Personnel |
|
|---|---|
| Former race drivers | |
| FIA Formula E cars | |
| See also | |
