Trulli's car pinpointed as source of problem

Jarno Trulli has had a less than great start to the season but now he believes the problem has been narrowed down to his race car. Although he failed to finish the Spanish Grand Prix, Trulli said there is an unspecified technical gremlin with his ...

Jarno Trulli has had a less than great start to the season but now he believes the problem has been narrowed down to his race car. Although he failed to finish the Spanish Grand Prix, Trulli said there is an unspecified technical gremlin with his Renault that caused him to be slower than team mate Jenson Button who has outperformed the Italian. Using the T-car in Barcelona for qualifying Trulli found much better pace.

Jarno Trulli.

Photo by Renault F1.

"I am happy because we found a car that was working. The (race) car had a problem in the first four races, although we don't know what," Trulli said. "Jenson drove that car this morning (Sunday) and had the same problem, he was 1.5s slower than in his own car. I'm relieved. I set the fourth quickest lap in the race, and now I know it is just a question of the right time for me."

"When you look and check the car I have used in the first four races this season, you don't see anything, but I qualified in the T-car and only got one lap in and you can see the result. It has been a good weekend for me because I didn't know what the problem was for the first four races."

Trulli has yet to score a point this season but Renault seem on the pace so far despite some reliability issues. Trulli and Button have regularly been fighting it out with McLaren and the Englishman has finished in the points three times so far. Trulli is not disheartened and thinks the future looks promising.

"Overall, I had a good race," he said after the Spanish GP. "The car was working well, and I was pleased with our pace. The problem (that caused his retirement) was there from the beginning, but I could handle it until mid-race. After that, it got worse and worse until there was nothing I could do. It's a shame, but things look promising even so."