Jarno Trulli came into formula racing with 12 years experience in karting, having won almost every title there was to win in that form of racing. He drove a German F3 KMS car for half a year in 1995 when he caught the eye of several Formula One teams – choosing to sign with Benetton's Junior team the following year.
Minardi recruited him to drive in Formula One for half a season in 1997. The next year he joined Prost, racing with them for two years. He scored his first podium in his second year with Prost. In 2000, Jarno joined Jordan for a two-year stint. He finished 10th and ninth, respectively, with them in the driver's championship.
When his contract was up with Jordan in 2002, he joined the newly created Renault team. In 2002 and 2003, he finished eighth in the driver's championship. He scored his first Formula One victory with the Renault team in 2004 at Monaco. However, he became frustrated with the team mid-season after several races without any scoring possibility.
Due to this frustration, Trulli left Renault and joined Panasonic Toyota Racing in September of 2004 – signing a contract for the remainder of 2004, 2005 and 2006. That year he came in sixth in the championship.
He was the first driver to start on the front row for Toyota, qualifying second for Australia in 2005. For the season, he scored three podiums and finished seventh in the standings.
In 2006, he scored a best finish of fourth at the United States Grand Prix en route to finishing the season 12th in the World Championship standings with just 15 points.
He remained with Toyota in 2007, teaming up alongside Ralf Schumacher and posted a better season than Schumacher. As a result, he led the team for 2008, after Schumacher left the team.
In 2008, Jarno Trulli enjoyed one of his best seasons in Formula One, playing a pivotal role in returning Panasonic Toyota Racing to the battle at the front.
The statistics tell their own story: his third place in France was the team's first podium in over two years while in Brazil he put a Toyota on the front row of the grid for the first time in over three years. He scored points on 10 occasions on his way to a total of 31; the third highest for a Panasonic Toyota Racing driver since the team's debut in 2002.
