Trulli gaining confidence says Gascoyne

Renault's Jarno Trulli now has the confidence to drive great races after taking his time to settle into his new team, according to technical director Mike Gascoyne. Trulli has something of a reputation for being a good qualifier then lacking staying power in races but Gascoyne has praised the Italian's recent efforts.

Trulli had a good race at Spa, until his engine failed, and well deserved his fourth place in Monza last weekend after starting from the back of the grid.

"Jarno drove well at Spa; we were in the points when all the cars from the top three teams were running," Gascoyne told the BBC. "Then he drove very, very well on Sunday in Monza. He drove a stormer, it was one of his best races ever."

"He got into driving defensively rather than really pushing to the limit. Jarno does seem to think it's better to get three points for fourth rather than risk going off pushing for third. But we've told him to let us worry about whether the car will finish and just go for it."

Gascoyne was at Jordan with Trulli in 2000 and said it had just taken time for him to get comfortable at Renault, as it had with Jordan before.

"It has taken him six months to settle in the team, just as it did for him at Jordan before he started to blow Heinz-Harald Frentzen off. He does need confidence before he really goes for it, and he can over-complicate things, but now he's got confidence in the car and he's really going well."

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