The story is intriguing to say the least. Many people say Jarno Trulli lost the holy flame and should go back to his silly vineyard. Toyota quit F1 after 2009 and Trulli's only option was to go to the back of the grid in a B-team. Kovalainen had the upper hand and Trulli became quite invisible, this year it got worse. All year long in 2011 one message after another comes out and tells the world his power steering is causing problems. Crippling him. No ability to give feedback. The problems should be solved in Hungary, a report says, with a new power steering system.

My questions on this one are, what are the odds that it is true? Heard some stories he almost behaves like an indian (the Red Traditional Native American one), he doesn't like simulators because he doesn't have the wind as a reference point. That's interesting, those statements add value to my train of thought steering could be an issue due to oversensitivity.
The second, why on earth are these issues not plaguing Kovalainen?

"Behaves like an Indian"

what does this mean?

Yeah, you know, living on instincts, using mama nature to guide yourself. I found it interesting and reminded me to that. Who drives on the wind? He's the only one I ever heard off so far.

Its a strange one thats for sure. I don't think he's a liar, but everyone including tony F seem to be perplexed by it. Suppose it's just something to do with his driving style, weve all heard the stories about how strong he is when the car is perfect but massively falls apart when it's not.

The question to me is, why can't they just fix his damn power steering.

Anyone struggling to understand the magnitude of his issue just take a look at Rossi at Ducati.

Why was Stoner able to just about hang on to the top last year whilst Rossi is sometimes being out qualified by customer riders? Rossi has gone from winning being a success to a top 6 being a good weekend.

Its all about driver feel. Rossi's problem is that due to the inherent characteristics of the Ducati, he can not feel where the limit is. Likewise Trulli can not feel where the limit is in his car.

Anyone who has driven a car will know how important feedback through steering wheel is when wanting to respond to disturbances.

I do believe his issues, but I also believe he is done and dusted.

well, if the steering problem is stopping him from being able to give feedback, would have to say he is done and dusted considering that is why they hired him in the first place

BUT... it just doesn't make any sense. Why does he have the problems and Heikki not?

We have a similar saying here, but we also have two distinctive words for an Indian from India and an Indian from the native tribes in America.
So, saying "To look like an Indian looks at a typewriter" is in the meaning of someone primitive and elementary. I suppose this is the case here.

I think that you are talking about Native Americans. The term Red Indian is not really used any more, unless you mention cowboys and indians.

Anyhow, Kovi is just very quick at the moment, and Jarno is getting old and slow. I would actually like to see Kovi in a Mercedes or Force India.

Why was Stoner so far ahead of the other riders?

Why are some people better race drivers than others?

We all feel things, and process things in a different matter. We react to what we feel based on what we know. If Jarno can not express how he feels in the car how can the engineers help him go quicker.

Darn, I got it right with the differences between them too and people still falling over it Edited

I used to love Jarno back in the Renault days and also he have some bright days on Toyota but I look at him this days and I only see a sad soul in the paddock, I guess he was very unlucky in his career. At this point he should leave F1, nob0dy is going to offer anything better than Lotus and probably Lotus will want someone more competitive to be paired with Heikki.

To me, Jarno is just Fisichella MKII. Unessaceriliy withering his career at the back with little to nothing left to pursuit for.

As i understood it, it's not actually broken, it just has different characteristics to what Jarno is used to. Heikki doesn't seem to mind much, but Jarno seems unable to adapt. They'll change the whole system come Hungary, let's see what he can do then.

I believe him. Still, he's probably past it by now, has a young teammate, and is in one of the worst cars on the grid. There's only so much you can do. If it's the power steering then maybe it is, not that I'm being naive but giving him the benefit of the doubt.

As for 'behaving like an Indian' (WTF), wasn't it Alesi that once used shadows as braking points? In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Kobayashi actually does something similar today.

Yes truly wtf. I can't help everybody out there keep reading capitals where they aren't placed

You got a source on Alesi's one? Interesting!

Probably not the best source but it's all I can find:

http://www.f1rejects.com/centrale/alesi/index.html

It's a bit strange, that Jarno continue to say, that he can't give valuable feedback due to power steering, but Mike and Tony continue to praise him and saying, that he has great value in the team as a development driver
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader also said in Spain, that Jarno's feedback about blown diffuzor was great.
At least it is good that Jarno is happy outside F1 - he just bought hotel at Davos, and will celebrate its opening this week end
http://translate.google.ru/translate?js=n&...64b2032374f1414

Heikki has the exact same problems, he is just driving through them - Heikki has an ability to just go out no matter the issues with car or conditions and just throw a car around a track, Jarno's strengths lay elsewhere.

Heikki said a week ago, that power steering still a problem for him, but he is getting used to it.
Chandhok could feel steering problems after few laps he has done on 3 friday sessions before Silverstone, and even Valsecchi's session was short in Kuala Lumpur due to power steering

Well it might simply be what he considers low levels of feedback are still more than you would get from many other drivers...

I was the Team Lotus Spark 'Fan Commentator' at Silverstone, meaning that in practice and qualification I was in the TL garage with team headphones on. After all the threads about Jarno on this forum recently, I was particularly listening out to hear what he had to say to the engineers when returning to the pits.

I don't know what he is like with working power steering, but to say that he was giving no feedback would be completely untrue

That has much more to do with Stoner and a lot less to do with Rossi - Stoner was the only rider capable of taming the Desmosedici..... Rossi's task this year more or less is to make the bike human friendly rather than alien

I think he meant that he can't get proper feedback from the steering wheel, not that he can't give one about the car.

Here is a photo I took on Friday, Jarno either providing feedback, or talking about the Tour de France - take your pick...

http://twitpic.com/5mycik

That's new for me. Here in Holland some things might end up in the bin when some issues are apparently more important than others, unfortunately. This is the thing they haven't said, thanks!

And also thanks for the Alesi thing above

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khA67-r5lSQ


Replace "Arnoux" with "Trulli" and "turbos" with "power steering" and there you have it.


I will gladly eat my words if starts beating Kova with the new power steering system as I like the guy, but I think he is simply being beaten fair and square.

Trulli peaked around 2004/2005 and from then on, well, it's has been a long time already...

Jarno is not beaten by Heikki in races! I said it several times, showing lap charts, and I'll continue to say.
Heikki is much better in quals, power steering issue affects Jarno mainly in qualifying with a light car, but in races he has the same pace.
In some races Jarno is faster,in some - Heikki, but not by large margin. In general their pace is the same
Heikki could be a lot quicker in Silverstone as Jarno was struggling all saturday, but they both retired early, so we would never know
Only with Jarno's help Lotus is still in 10 place in constructors cup, HRT would be already ahead if Heikki's results were best for Lotus. Jarno has two 13places in races and Heikki only two 14. It is a question of luck may be, but these are facts at the moment

I'm tired of Jarno. I used to like him and rate him ok, but now he just feels out of place as if he's not enjoying it at all anymore. Like some sad old dude clinging to memories of the past. Compare that to Schumi who is an actual old dude who botches up half his overtakes, but still has that fire in his eyes, they speak to us and look towards the future.

If Shumi was fighting for 19 places and having power steering problems, i seriously doubt he would have that fire in his eyes.
Heikki is more positive, cause he was so unhappy at Mclaren, that being a team leader and having great support from team is more important than fighting for points and podiums.
Glock is also unhappy at Virgin, he says very often how he is tired of fighting at the back.

Sorry, I just had to laugh at the poll option "Not Trulli's fault, Kovalainen is just plain fast."

Yeah right.

Because they can't find anything wrong with it!
Fernandes was interviewed by the BBC at Valencia and left no one in any doubt that he believed Jarno's complaints were a 'racing driver's excuse'.

?? Huh, you mean when he was interviewed in the F1 forum after the race? He most certainly didn't say that - and if it was an excuse why would Heikki have the same problem and the unit is going to be replaced?

In my opinion both sides are right.

Jarno has spent too much time complaining, complaning the team is small, complaining about the rules, complaining about reliability (this one made me laugh), complaining about not having support in Italy. He really hasnt done much to shed his reputation has a whinner hasnt he?

Lotus is a very small outfit. Heiki pointed this out in BBC after Q2, I sugest to everyone to see it because he's quite honest about it and sends a message to the team as well. They need everything including better parts.

The solution then is for Jarno to suck it up and do the best he can and stop feeding the trolls.
And Lotus to upgrade their facilities and quality.

The other solution is quit.

Tony said at BBC Valencia forum: Heikki is fine with it, but they are different, one Finnish, one Italian, one more sensitive than the other, but they both go on track and Jarno is spending a lot of time with Mark Smith trying to find a solution. He also said that thei team is only 20 month old, so they still can make mistakes, but he asked to give them time, in future no such problems should appear.
Later he said that Jarno is still very valuable for the team, he is great development driver with feedback, and they have great team with Jarno and Heikki
Here is this interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXrEayUTO2c...player_embedded

Trulli should retire at the end of the year. He is there because of Gascoyne. Likewise Schumacher is at Mercedes because of Brawn.

Loyalty is a good thing but these guys are the old guard.

It's time to move on, for all aforementioned parties.

The question to me is, is there anything wrong with his PS in the first place? Kova seems to be able to cope with it.

Trulli was usually faster than Kovalainen in 2010, but had worse reliability and luck and therefore the incorrect impression was given to many that he was destroyed by his team-mate. Given that he has struggled to find the same form this year, I'll give him the benefit of doubt and say the only problem is the power steering. Although he's still usually as quick or quicker than Kovalainen in the races.

I believe Jarno. He rightly says. His complaints helps the team solve a problem with power steering. Solving this problem will make the car faster and increase the speed of Heikki too. The team needs him and for that, too. Covi can adapt, but he can't give the good feedback to correct the power steering. For this, team needs Jarno.
He say: “the team knows what I am going through. They know why sometimes I am quick and sometimes I am not.” Why not? Everyone knows about the problem. It should be solved, but do not adapt to it. Solving the problem will give the team progress. Without Trulli’s complaints - it's impossible.

"Because basically when you are in the corner, at a certain steering angle you keep feeling [shakes his hands to indicate steering shake] and so I react to this. But actually I am reacting to something which is not correct." - he is perfectionist , he can't (and doesn't want) to adapt "to something, which is not correct".

He is that slow.In faster cars like the Toyota's 2005-06 who was one of the most underestimated F1-cars ever he could managed one fast quali-lap before the usualy "trulli-train" and people really belived he was fast because he had a even worse teammate.
But now in a backmarker car he can't hide and Kovy show us why.

There really is no hope left for some members of our society. I've lost count totally of how many retarded comments I read on here these days. it's a shame.

Just because Heikki copes with it, it doesn't make it any less of a problem - everyone who has driven the car says it has a steering problem. Heikki prides himself on being able to drive anything in any conditions and if you mention power steering to him he starts smirking



The team is in a development phase, they need experienced drivers to move the car forward - having a new young driver in the team would achieve nothing bar increase the strain on the parts department.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zxNnyfSLTk

dont worry ima pushing like hell

I agree but:



If that's how it's been since the first race, then what's the point if they haven't fixed it in a season and a half?

This question needs to be split into two parts.

Q1. Is Jarno as quick now as he was 2004-2009
A1. Maybe not
Q2. Is there a power steering issue?
A2. More than likely

The first question has no relevance at all to the second.

Jarno has one of the most precise driving styles in F1 he will know if the power steering is correct or not, the reality is he probably had a situation like this at Toyota and Renault but because of in season testing, a whole heap of expertise and a huge development budget it was a non issue or at least one that was quickly sorted.

Secondly, Mike Gascoyne and many of the people at Team Lotus are personal friends of Jarno, there is no reason for him to send them on any sort of impossible mission spending their whole development budget.

All he wants is a quick car, he's pinpointing problems to get his hands on one as quickly as possible. Some people on here seem to be getting uptight that he is putting his all into improving the car and not saying a problem is fixed when its not, he wouldn't be doing is job properly if he didn't get to the bottom of this issue.

Here is the look of Peter Windsor on it
http://www.theracedriver.com/2011/06/europ...team-lotus-car/
"Give Jarno a decent front end and steering that he can “feel” and no-one in the world is better"

Ralf Schumacher worst teammate? Covy better than Rаlf? I don't think so.
When Trulli perfectly acted in qualification, all accused him that he merges races. Now, when Trulli in the race faster than in qualifying, and often ahead of his teammate - all accuse him again... I don’t understand you