Jan.20 (GMM) Jarno Trulli has admitted that trying to get Caterham up to speed in formula one is the toughest challenge of his long formula one career.
With 13 seasons, approaching a dozen podiums and a Monaco victory under his belt, the veteran Italian switched to the new Tony Fernandes-headed team - then called Lotus - in 2010.Trulli, now 37, was a refugee of the defunct Toyota project, a team with arguably F1's biggest annual budgets last decade.He had switched there from Renault just before Fernando Alonso took that team to back-to-back titles, and also had experience with smaller teams Jordan, Prost and Minardi.But Trulli says Caterham has been the toughest of all.Last season, for example, he struggled for pace with a power steering system he could not adapt to."It became a crucial problem," he told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport. "You do not have the resources and as a small team there are more important tasks."I have to admit that it was a problem that has affected me with other teams as well. But they were bigger and we could resolve it quickly."People don't realise how difficult it is to start with a team from zero, as we did. At the beginning of my career I was with Minardi, but this has been much more difficult."Each wrong turn you make is felt for a very long time."It is rumoured Trulli, despite his signed 2012 contract, could lose the seat before Melbourne to a sponsor-backed driver.He denied that speculation and said he is expecting a much better season in 2012."I have confidence in the team," said Trulli. "Over the years we have made a lot of progress. We have made great steps forward even if from the outside that hasn't always been seen."The goal for this season is to be better than 2011 -- we have more resources, more experience and more people."We were looking for points last season; now the goal is to fight for points in the middle group."
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