Glock 'losing confidence in F1' as Toyota penalised again

Timo Glock has slated Formula 1's rule-makers after team-mate Jarno Trulli was demoted from third place in the 2009 curtain-raising Australian Grand Prix today - marking Toyota's third penalty of the Melbourne weekend.

Both Toyota drivers were disqualified from qualifying on Saturday over a rear wing infringement that Glock argued gained the Cologne-based outfit no on-track advantage, and after beginning the race from the pit-lane - rather than the respective sixth (Glock) and eighth (Trulli) positions where they had been due to line up - the duo charged their way up the order, with the Italian in particular the architect of a superb performance that saw him profit from Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica's late-race contre-temps to steal the final rostrum position. And then it was taken away from him again.

After making the most of a short first stint on Bridgestone's unloved super-soft rubber and a long final stint on the more consistent medium compound, Trulli was elevated to third place by the BMW-Red Bull collision, but a slight 'off' under the subsequent safety period car saw him cede the spot to the following Lewis Hamilton - who he then re-passed when the Briton 'suddenly slowed down'. The FIA, however, took a dim view of the former Monaco Grand Prix winner's actions and handed him a 25-second penalty - dropping him all the way down outside of the points to ninth place in the final order.

"I can't say how disappointed I am to finish third but have the result questioned," the 34-year-old remarked afterwards. "When the safety car came out towards the end of the race Lewis Hamilton passed me, but soon after he suddenly slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. I thought he had a problem so I overtook him as there was nothing else I could do.

"I would still like to say thank you to the team who have made a huge effort. The fact we were able to fight for the podium despite starting from the pit-lane is down to them."

Trulli's misfortune ironically promoted Glock a place from fifth to fourth, but the 2007 GP2 Series Champion declared himself angry that Toyota seemed to have been the victim of a witch-hunt over the course of the weekend - even if he was encouraged by the team's performance in coming from so far back to the front of the pack, having been the only driver to find any real pace on Bridgestone's super-soft tyres when he pulled off a number of impressive around-the-outside overtaking manoeuvres in the closing stages.

"I don't want to talk about protests again," he insisted. "We've had that the whole bloody weekend and I'm losing a little bit of confidence in Formula 1, because this is not the way to go. I don't know why that happens every time. I am happy to finish fourth, but obviously it is really disappointing for Jarno.

"For us to be fighting at the front like that after we started from the pit-lane really shows the strong performance we have - this is proof that our car has real pace. It was a good race for me and I have to say thanks to the team for their hard work in achieving this.

"My mechanics had two days where they worked the whole night. They had to work from Friday to Saturday because the car was just undriveable on Friday - we tried to sort it out and the guys did a perfect job - and then last night as well with the rear wing, and now this is the result. We both started from the pit-lane and we showed really good pace.

"When you see the pace I think it's quite promising, and that shows that the wing that we modified didn't change anything in terms of the speed of the car. The race was pretty exciting, but I was stuck struggling behind the Renault of [Fernando] Alonso for quite a while and it was difficult to overtake. My car felt good, but I couldn't find a way past.

"It felt like I had a KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems) allergy! Every time I was behind a KERS car there was no chance for me to overtake. It was especially tricky being behind the Renault; I lost so much downforce, so when I see a Renault in front of us there is no change from last year in terms of more overtaking or whatever.

"However, when I was in clear air I was able to go about a second faster - so the performance is definitely there. At the end, I knew the last stint on the option tyres would be my stint where I could push. That was the strategy that we went for - two long stints on the prime tyre and then a short stint on the option, because we knew with more rubber on the track the option was likely to work more easily, and in the last ten laps the lower fuel level made it easier too and I could push really hard.

"The car felt mega on those tyres and I was flying. I overtook Fernando with a good move, I think, and Nico [Rosberg] as well. It was a shame at the end that the safety car came out, as I'm sure I could have tried to overtake at least Lewis too because the speed was there. We have to be happy with this result - this is what the team deserves, and at the end it was a good weekend. I said before the weekend that we looked strong judging by our winter performance, and it's great to show that in race conditions."

That much at least is some small consolation for the Japanese concern - which has since lodged an appeal against Trulli's penalty - and team principal Tadashi Yamashina admitted that it had been a bitter-sweet weekend, with the disappointment of the lost podium on one hand and the 'genuine performance' demonstrated by the new TF109 on the other.

"This is an extremely frustrating way to finish a challenging weekend," he acknowledged. "Already we were disappointed to be starting from the pit-lane after we were informed yesterday about the problem with our rear wing. We responded to that in a fantastic way and we showed that our car has genuine performance.

"I would like to thank everyone who is part of our team - not just the guys at the track but also everyone at the factory, our partners and our fans. It's sad that this result has been questioned, but we have filed an appeal to give us more time to study the data and the situation."