Formula One news

Mixed result at Toyota

Panasonic Toyota Racing heads into Sunday's British Grand Prix with mixed results from today's qualifying sessions on another sweltering day at Silverstone. Ralf Schumacher did well to make it into Session 3 and he will line up 7th tomorrow after a fine last lap. But Jarno Trulli was less fortunate, failing to complete a single flying lap because of an engine problem.

The team will change the engine for tomorrow's race but the Italian will have the hardest of battles from the back of the grid. The race is likely to be far from typical as the British summer continues to fail to live up to expectations.

Ralf Schumacher commented on his qualifying session: "We can be very satisfied with what we achieved today. We expected to be somewhere between 6th and 10th so we managed to secure a good position. The car was really good, too. I struggled for grip yesterday and also this morning, as with many others here. It wasn't perfect for me in the first two sessions but as qualifying went on the guys got it right so thanks to them. My last run was much better and we had a lot of fuel on board so we're pretty pleased. As in many other circuits in Formula 1 it is a bit difficult to overtake here but we are confident about our strategy so we are looking forward to tomorrow."

Jarno Trulli said about his bad luck: "Unfortunately I could not even record a time in qualifying today because I had an engine problem on my first flying lap. I just noticed smoke coming out of the back and that was the end of my afternoon's work. It means I will be starting at the back of the grid tomorrow, which is a particular pity because our new TF106B was going well here, as it did in Monaco."

"Yesterday we were competitive and we were confident after this morning because we didn't use any new tyres. It will be a very difficult race tomorrow because it's practically impossible to overtake around here. Still, I will stay focused, push as hard as I can and just keep hoping my fortunes will soon turn around."

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