Jarno Trulli had an extensive F1 career, starting in 1997 with Minardi, and ending in 2011 with Team Lotus. In the midst, he was part of the championship winning Renault team, securing one victory at Monaco. The latter half of his career saw him frustrated at the rear of the grid, and Vitaly Petrov replaced him at Caterham for 2012.

F1 biography

Trulli, named after a motorcycle champion, participated in karting and single series championships before making his debut in Formula One. He drove for Minardi in 1997, but moved to the Prost team to replace Olivier Panis who was injured. With a car more suited to him, he finished fourth on his first race for the team, and started hustling for podium finishes. Prost would deliver his first podium, but he didn't manage it until two years later, in Europe 1999.

At the end of the season, Trulli moved to the bright yellow Jordan team but saw similar results - an occasional points finish in a season littered with retirements. In 2002, the Italian joined Renault and things started to look up. After a difficult first year, Trulli started the 2003 season with three points finishes in a row, going on to finish third in Germany. In 2004, he took his first race victory in Monaco and helped the team (and his teammate) secure the world championship.

However, his relationship with Renault came to an abrupt end when Trulli signed with Toyota for 2005. Renault let him go three races before the end of the season, forcing Trulli to miss the Chinese Grand Prix before joining his new team for the final two events. 2005 got off to a good start with three podium finishes in the first five races, but the performance gradually dropped off.

Trulli stuck with Toyota through a difficult couple of seasons, and was back on the podium in 2008 and 2009. At the Brazilian Grand Prix that year, a collision between Trulli and Adrian Sutil caused the Italian much anger, and a hefty fine from the FIA. He blamed the German for the crash, going so far as to bring photographic evidence to a press conference to prove his point.

When Toyota withdrew from Formula One, Trulli was left to find a new drive. He moved to then Lotus (soon-to-be Caterham) team, driving alongside Heikki Kovalainen. The backmarker team couldn't deliver the results Trulli was used to but he remained loyal to the squad for two years. When they were rebranded Caterham for 2012, Trulli was dropped from the team and left without a race seat.

The new electric racing series Formula E presented Trulli with a new opportunity, and the Italian racer set up his own team, Trulli GP to participate in the inaugural season and beyond.