Born: 13/7/74 Nationality: Italian Team: Toyota First GP: Australia 1997 Wins: 1 2004 position: 6th Previous teams: Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault

Jarno Trulli had something to prove at Renault this season, and prove it he did - up to a point.

The genial Italian maintained his reputation as one of the fastest men in Formula One with some impressive displays in one-lap qualifying.

But in a blistering start to the year, he upped his game in races, often eclipsing team-mate Fernando Alonso, and took a superb win in Monaco.

But it is a mystery why he so went off the boil from mid-season onwards.

Trulli's season went into free fall after he lost third place to Rubens Barrichello on the final corner of the last lap of the French Grand Prix - Renault's home race.

From that moment on, his race performances became worse than ever - some cynics even said he had gone to sleep on the final lap in Magny-Cours and never woken up again.

Trulli said he was beset by problems with his car, an explanation with which the team eventually ran out of patience.

Things got so bad that Trulli was eventually dropped by team boss Flavio Briatore for the final three races of the year, only to be drafted in by his new Toyota team for the last two events.

The end result was that Trulli, to some extent, has a reputation to rebuild again in 2005 - which is a shame after the way he started the season.