BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Renault praise improved Trulli



By Andrew Benson BBC Sport Online motorsport editor

Jarno Trulli has won praise from his Renault team after responding to criticism with stirring performances in the last two Grands Prix.

The Italian is admired in Formula One for his qualifying pace but has been criticised for lacklustre performance in races.

Renault admit that the criticism was justified, but believe that Trulli has listened and learned from it.

Trulli stormed through the field at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, finishing fourth after being forced to start from the back of the grid when his engine stalled at the start.

We've told Jarno to let us worry about whether the car will finish and just go for it

Mike Gascoyne
Renault technical director

And that came two weeks after he was battling with Williams' Ralf Schumacher for points in Belgium before his engine failed late in the race.

Renault technical director Mike Gascoyne said: "Jarno drove well at Spa - we were in the points when all the cars from the top three teams were running.

"Then he drove very, very well on Sunday in Monza. He drove a stormer - it was one of his best races ever."

Trulli was considerably faster than team-mate Jenson Button in both races.

This was noteworthy because while Trulli has had the Englishman's measure in qualifying, beating him 11-four, Button has often had the edge in races.

Gascoyne said that Trulli had not been pushing to the limit because he was worried about the car breaking down - he has had more failures than Button this season.

Renault technical director Mike Gascoyne
Gascoyne is pleased with Trulli's improved race pace

Gascoyne said: "There was an element of truth [in the criticism of Trulli]. He got into driving defensively rather than really pushing to the limit.

"Jarno does seem to think it's better to get three points for fourth rather than risk going off pushing for third.

"But we've told him to let us worry about whether the car will finish and just go for it.

"It has taken him six months to settle in the team, just as it did for him at Jordan [in 2000] before he started to blow Heinz-Harald Frentzen off.

"He does need confidence before he really goes for it, and he can over-complicate things, but now he's got confidence in the car and he's really going well."

At Monza, Trulli totally overshadowed Button, who was asked by the team to move out of his team-mate's way so Trulli could chase Eddie Irvine for third.

Italian Grand Prix report

"We said to both of them after the race that if Jenson had been right with Jarno at the end, we would have swapped them back, but he was 10 seconds back," Gascoyne said.

Trulli's performances are good news for Renault, who have been heavily criticised for replacing Button with Spaniard Fernando Alonso for next year.