Trulli talks about Christmas

Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Jarno Trulli talks about how he will spend his Christmas holiday and how a competitive TF105 race car would be his ideal Christmas present.

Jarno Trulli.

Photo by Toyota Racing.

Q: Formula One drivers don't get a lot of time free during the season, but how much in total do you get over the winter?

Jarno Trulli: After a long season of racing and winter testing, I am basically free from Christmas time until the first test in January or the launch of the new car. I suppose it ends up being around a two weeks of time off in total.

Q: Do you get asked to go to lots of end of year awards ceremonies in the run-up to Christmas?

JT: As my time is limited, I don't tend to have much time to go to awards ceremonies. I honestly prefer to stay at home with my family.

Q: So what are your plans this year?

JT: This year, I will go back to my family home in Pescara in Italy around 23 December. I plan to stay there for about four or five days. Then for New Year's Eve I will go skiing in Switzerland with my wife and some friends.

Q: Are there any other things you particularly do around Christmas time?

JT: The one thing I like to do around Christmas is nothing! For Formula One drivers it is our main chance of the year to really stay at home and relax.... I just try to get together with friends and family and have fun. The most strenuous thing we do is play cards.

Q: Are you a different person at home from how you are at the track?

JT: When I'm at the track, I'm completely concentrated on what I'm doing. I only want to know what is happening around me, and nothing else. But when I go back home I can just turn everything off.

Q: What do you do on Christmas Day itself?

JT: On Christmas Day, I laze around at home with my family, and that's about it. We have more or less had the same kind of Christmas as far back as I can remember.

Q: What kind of food is there?

JT: In Italy we have a big feast on Christmas Eve - with lots of different food. Then we generally go to church for the midnight service. On Christmas Day it's a different menu, with chicken soup, stuffed turkey and things like that.

Q: How about alcohol?

JT: No, I'm not really into alcohol. I have a few glasses of wine, but never too much...

Q: Grand prix drivers have to look after their diet too, but do you at least allow yourself to enjoy all the Christmas food?

JT: Yes, I let myself do that once a year. The problem is that it's a lot of food in one go. To eat so much is not something I usually do during the year, but I allow myself a special treat at Christmas.

Q: After all that eating, what kind of training do you do to get back in shape?

JT: As I'll be in Switzerland afterwards, my training will be mainly be a lot of cross country skiing. I really enjoy training in the mountains. I do some running as well, but mainly cross country skiing and work in the gym. That's all in preparation for the 2005 season.

Q: Your wife Barbara has a baby due next April, so surely this could be your last quiet Christmas?

JT: That's right, we're expecting a boy towards the end of April - around the time of the San Marino Grand Prix. I'm extremely happy about the news and it's a good boost for me, so I won't really mind about the noise! Hopefully next Christmas will be louder but even happier...

Q: Will you still go back to your family when you have a family of your own?

JT: I think I will always go back to Pescara for Christmas. I will always go back to Italy and stay with my mum and dad.

Q: What kind of present do people buy for an F1 driver who has everything?

JT: I don't like getting presents so it's hard for most of my family to find me a present. I have no idea what I want, but sometimes if I need something specific I'll ask for it.

Q: So what kind of present would you really like?

JT: I guess the Christmas present I would really like would be a fast car for 2005...

-toyota-