NASCAR the last resort – Jarno Trulli
The Lotus driver, Jarno Trulli sees little future for himself in Formula One for the upcoming 2011 season. While talking to the reporters, the driver proclaimed that so far he is unsure for his campaign this year, but he is resolute not to suffer for another
season.
The 2011 Formula One season is ready to kick off with the curtain raiser, Bahrain Grand Prix, at the beginning of March while the first pre-season test is scheduled to be held on 1st of February. With very little time at disposal, most of the
teams have already announced their drivers’ line-up while the few teams left, like Force India and Toro Rosso, are already in conversation with their potential drivers for next season.
Looking at the current situation, Trulli sees little hope for staying another season with the series. While talking to the media, the driver revealed, "One year I can suffer, another one no." He also hinted that if he is not able to finalise a deal that
suits him, he will switch to NASCAR rather than be a permanent backmarker in Formula One.
The 36-year-old stepped into the highest ranking series of the world in 1997, driving with Minardi and Prost during his debut season. The following year marked his first complete season behind the wheel of Prost, where he spent two poor seasons before switching
to Jordan. His next destination was Renault after having spent two years with the team. In the mid of 2004, the driver moved to Toyota, staying there for five full seasons until 2010, when he signed a deal of one year with Lotus. However, the last season with
the Malaysian squad marked another poor endeavour of his career as the uncompetitive team car did not allow him to score even a single point.
After losing his seat with Lotus this year, and also not being able to secure a seat with any of the other teams, the driver told the reporters, "When I started there was a lot of quality because many constructors tried to get winning drivers. Now the budgets
of many teams are determined by the sponsorships brought in by drivers."
One of the biggest reasons, keeping the Italian from securing a race seat for the next year is the lack of sponsorship. All the leading teams have announced to retain their last years’ drivers, while the struggling teams are only willing to sign men that
bring along heavy sponsorship.
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