Formula One news

Toyota threat decreases for race

Toyota experienced a day of highs and lows in China on Saturday; despite his strong performance, the team couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed with sixth on the grid for Jarno Trulli. Team-mate Timo Glock, on the other hand, endured a miserable day with fourteenth in qualifying only worsened by a five-place grid penalty.

A realistic chance of a podium remains for Trulli, with the first trio of Red Bull and Alonso being the lightest cars on the starting grid. The two Brawn GP cars, in fourth and fifth, could still be just out of reach although that won't stop a gutsy Trulli from trying. "It was a hard qualifying for me and I'm a bit disappointed with the results, because after this morning's practice session I believed we had the pace to be at the front," the Pescara-born driver said after the session. "But somehow, just as in Australia, the grip slipped away between this morning and this afternoon." Trulli's comparison with Australia relates to the fact that the field is using the same tyres this weekend as seen in Melbourne three weeks ago, with Bridgestone's Medium and Super Soft compounds on offer.

Glock's day appeared to go from bad to worse. As a gearbox problem reduced running time in final practice, the changing of the damaged part yielded a penalty, before Timo then qualified a lowly 14th. "The car felt different from yesterday, and it was already really tricky to drive in Q1," the German commented, having finished third in Malaysia last time out. "I couldn't string a lap together, and I knew it would be difficult to get into Q3 because the times were so tight. It felt slippery, I couldn't quite feel confident with the car and on the last lap I made a mistake so that was that. With our penalty, it means we are starting from the back row so now we just have to hope for rain tomorrow."

Despite both cars finishing in the top four after starting from the pits in Australia, the team's best changes from the grid positions achieved naturally lies with Trulli. "I was happy with my final lap and, in the end, P6 is a reasonable place to start," he concluded. "Tomorrow should be a good race, and there could be rain which would mix things up."

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