By role
May 6 2003

There was much fuss in Imola about the possibility of Jacques Villeneuve replacing Jarno Trulli in the Renault squad for the 2004 season. In this same site we explained why, in our opinion, it was an unwise decision to replace Jarno Trulli with the outspoken Canadian. The Spanish GP has gone by and the rumours have not continued. All right, we will concede that the rumours had little foundation base. Renault are making quite an improvement in terms of performance and it would seem obvious for the team to search for a driver that is growing to one that has clearly struggled in the past.

But let’s not get once again in the Villeneuve vs. Trulli debate as we think this was covered previously. Let’s talk this time about Jarno Trulli. As the unofficial Renault F1 site we try to give as much dedication to both drivers in the team as possible, and even when we have time to dedicate some space to Renault’s test driver, Allan McNish, that without doubt is doing quite a good job in testing, as shown later on in the races by the lead drivers.

However, the performances so far from Fernando Alonso seem to have quieted the season of Jarno Trulli and even to have made it look ordinary.

Nevertheless, Jarno Trulli is running quite a good season. And up to Imola we could even venture that his season was extraordinary. Yes, he has been out qualified 4 times by his team-mate, but is no secret than in many of those sessions he was carrying a heavier load than Alonso. In Malaysia, Alonso was 0.173 faster, however, he was carrying a heavier fuel load to stop later than the Spaniard, and therefore, as the team agreed, the lap that saw him second on the grid was better than the one set by pole man Alonso. A day later Trulli was punted by Michael Schumacher and he had to fight back for a a hard earned 5th position.

Brazil marked the final race in which Trulli scored points in this season up to today. He qualified a strong 5th, five places in front of his teammate. He could not find the same pace for the race in extreme conditions, however, and the shunt of Alonso hurt his chances as it came just as Trulli has gotten off his last pit stop, he was 6th before the pit stop, he finished 8th.

Imola was a difficult weekend for him as he fell for the new rules when he was forced to qualify and to race with the spare car that was set for his teammate. He was not comfortable at all with the set-up and this showed in his speed on Saturday, and also during the race, where he finished 13th and last.

Spain looked better and he was quite competitive on Friday and on Saturday, qualifying behind his team-mate in fourth. However, a clash with David Coulthard, this time it seems it was his fault, meant he had to abandon without completing even one lap.

Besides his run of bad luck Jarno Trulli is proving that he is quite a fast driver, that he can keep the pace of his team-mate and that as long as he is able to quick his bad luck habits he will be fighting his team-mate and the front-runners for points and podium places.

Let’s bear in mind that Trulli has quite an experience in this sport, he has scored 47 points in 101 races and he is considered one of the best qualifiers on the grid. As a matter of fact he has out qualified his team-mates 37-19 since the 2000 season and he has had team-mates as highly rated as Frentzen, Alesi, Zonta or Button.