fpv_gtho
09-14-2005, 12:46 AM
http://www.planet-f1.com/news/story_20929.shtml
Trulli blasts Toyota's 'absurd' tactics
Tuesday September 13 2005
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Jarno Trulli has lashed out at Toyota, blaming the team for him not finishing the Belgian GP on the podium.
According to the Italian, who failed to see the chequered flag after ploughing his Toyota into the tyre barrier at Turn Seven on lap 35, he could easily have claimed a top-three result at Spa had it not been for Toyota's 'absurd' tyre call.
Trulli had been running near the front of pack when on lap 11 of the 44-lap race the Safety Car was deployed, which sent the majority of the drivers into the pits for fuel.
However, some teams also opted to swap from intermediates to slick tyres even though the track was still damp in many places.
Toyota was one of them, changing Trulli's tyres in his first pitstop - and he's not impressed.
"The team's decision to put on slicks at the first stop was a colossal absurdity," Trulli told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.
"With them, I could not even keep behind the Safety Car. I was fourth, in Alonso's slipstream, and I lost a load of time and after that it was impossible to recover."
"The team robbed me of a podium because the car was going really well on this track. I would have been on the podium, taking into account (Juan Pablo) Montoya's retirement."
Team-mate Ralf Schumacher, though, doesn't share Trulli's contempt for Toyota's decision despite also being thwarted by a bad tyre choice.
"We just decided to go onto dry tyres too early. It was a very close decision, but we took it together and we got it wrong," the German, who finished P7, said.
"Like everyone we expected the track to dry out a lot faster than it did. Instead the track was incredibly slow to dry out."
"It was amazing how slippery the circuit was, and I can't remember seeing a race like that. We came straight back in and that enabled us to score some points."
He added: "The team did a great job but we just got one decision wrong."
Trulli blasts Toyota's 'absurd' tactics
Tuesday September 13 2005
Email Us Chat Forum
Mail article Print article
Jarno Trulli has lashed out at Toyota, blaming the team for him not finishing the Belgian GP on the podium.
According to the Italian, who failed to see the chequered flag after ploughing his Toyota into the tyre barrier at Turn Seven on lap 35, he could easily have claimed a top-three result at Spa had it not been for Toyota's 'absurd' tyre call.
Trulli had been running near the front of pack when on lap 11 of the 44-lap race the Safety Car was deployed, which sent the majority of the drivers into the pits for fuel.
However, some teams also opted to swap from intermediates to slick tyres even though the track was still damp in many places.
Toyota was one of them, changing Trulli's tyres in his first pitstop - and he's not impressed.
"The team's decision to put on slicks at the first stop was a colossal absurdity," Trulli told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.
"With them, I could not even keep behind the Safety Car. I was fourth, in Alonso's slipstream, and I lost a load of time and after that it was impossible to recover."
"The team robbed me of a podium because the car was going really well on this track. I would have been on the podium, taking into account (Juan Pablo) Montoya's retirement."
Team-mate Ralf Schumacher, though, doesn't share Trulli's contempt for Toyota's decision despite also being thwarted by a bad tyre choice.
"We just decided to go onto dry tyres too early. It was a very close decision, but we took it together and we got it wrong," the German, who finished P7, said.
"Like everyone we expected the track to dry out a lot faster than it did. Instead the track was incredibly slow to dry out."
"It was amazing how slippery the circuit was, and I can't remember seeing a race like that. We came straight back in and that enabled us to score some points."
He added: "The team did a great job but we just got one decision wrong."