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After 12 years as a Formula One driver, and with 192 Grand Prix starts and eight podium finishes under his belt, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli is an old pro when it comes to his race routine. We caught up with Trulli in Hungary, following Sunday's event, to find out about his time in Budapest and discover a little more about how he likes to spend his time ‘in the office’ over a race weekend…

Q: We were in Budapest this weekend, what do you associate with this circuit?
Jarno Trulli: Heat and dust. Most of the time - I only can remember one race, some years ago, when it was surprisingly cool - it is really, really hot here and the track is usually quite dusty because it isn’t used very often. That means that if you go off line you lose a lot of time. Still, it’s a track that I like and I’ve enjoyed many good races here.

Q: You don’t take to the track until Friday morning, but when do you like to fly in?
JT: For European races like Hungary I try to arrive on Thursday morning. That means I am able to spend as much time as possible with my family. Obviously for the flyaway races it is better to spend a little time in the country before to acclimatise, so I arrive a day or two earlier.

Q: Do you make an effort to discover your surroundings at a race, or do you stick to the airport-hotel-track-airport itinerary?
JT: To be honest, it’s not really possible to see much of the city when we are here in Budapest because I am so busy at the track. When I arrive on Thursday, I go directly to the track to meet with my engineers and do some media work and I am busy from that moment on. In the evening maybe I have the chance to have a meal in the city but I am here to race so I don’t like to stay up late. That means sightseeing is out of the question but this is my 12th season coming to Budapest so I have seen a decent amount of the city over the years.

Q: What’s your exercise regime over a race weekend? Does it vary according to the race location, demands of the circuit etc?
JT: I don’t do any intensive exercise during the race weekend because there isn’t the time and I am already in good shape from my training away from the track. But, depending on the circuit, I might go for a run around the track on Thursday night, or even take my rollerblades out and have a go on them.

Q: What’s your preferred accommodation at races - city hotel, hotel near the circuit, your own motorhome near the paddock?
JT: I like to have a good hotel near the circuit so the travelling time is as small as possible.

Q: Anything you have to have provided in your hotel room or any luxuries you always bring with you from home?
JT: I don’t have any fancy tastes so I’m quite an easy guest! I have everything I need so I don’t normally ask for anything special, but an internet connection helps.

Q: Do you enjoy entertaining friends and family during a race weekend?
JT: Normally my family stay at home during the race weekend because I don’t have much time to spend with them. I am always completely focused on racing when I am at the track so it’s not the best environment to bring my wife and children to. Sometimes I have friends at a Grand Prix and in that case it’s nice to spend a little bit of time with them, maybe have dinner together or whatever.

Q: Do you get the chance to go out and socialize on Friday and Saturday night?
JT: Not really, no. Often I have PR or marketing commitments, such as media dinners, that kind of thing, or I may need to stay late at the track with my engineers to study data from the car and decide what to do next. If I have the spare time, I prefer to relax, perhaps have a quiet meal but nothing too lively.

Q: Any drivers you particularly like hanging out with?
JT: For most drivers the weekend is really busy and usually we don’t stay in the same hotels, so it’s hard to spend time together. If I get the chance, I like to catch up with my old team mate Fernando Alonso.

Q: Your favourite race for nightlife?
JT: I’m not really a nightlife sort of person!

Q: What’s the best night out you’ve had at a Grand Prix? And have you ever overslept the next morning?
JT: Sometimes you do get the chance to have some fun - but only really ever after the race and as long as you’re not flying out the same evening. I’ve had some good meals out. The first place that springs to mind is the Le Latini restaurant in Montreal. And no, I’m always early for appointments so I never oversleep!

Q: What do you have for breakfast on a race Sunday?
JT: I don’t have any breakfast on a Sunday but instead I have an early lunch of pasta at around 10am.

Q: How much do you drink over a race weekend? And what?
JT: For a hot race like Hungary you have to be careful to drink a lot of fluid. My doctor provides me with a mineral drink which has everything in it that my body needs. I don’t know exactly how much but in a hot climate it is many, many litres because re-hydration is very important.

Q: How do you spend the morning on race Sunday?
JT: I try to relax as much as possible but that’s not always easy. I usually have an appearance to make at the Paddock Club or at the merchandise booth, then there’s the drivers’ parade and I also spend time with my engineers discussing the coming race. If I get the chance I also like to catch some of the GP2 race.

Q: How do you like to get to the circuit on Sunday morning? Do you drive yourself?
JT: I prefer not to drive myself so usually my manager will drive me, although at some races, like Turkey and China, we have our own driver.

Q: How do you like to spend the hour or so before the race? Any superstitions or pre-race rituals you always go through to bring you luck?
JT: I have a short sleep and then I do some stretches and get into my overalls in time to take the car to the grid 30 minutes before the race starts. I don’t have any superstitions but I generally go to the bathroom soon after I have taken the car to the grid - I find that is a good strategy!

Q: Do you have a lucky charm?
JT: No.

Q: What do you do to stay calm as you’re sat on the grid awaiting the formation lap?
JT: I have a programme of mental exercises which I do all year round with the team doctor, Dr Ceccarelli, so I am well prepared for this moment. I just try to think about what I am doing and try not to make any mistakes on the formation lap, because if you are not concentrating then you never know what can happen.

Q: How do you wind down after the race?
JT: That’s quite easy. I talk to my engineers and we discuss what happened, then after that, the race for me is finished and I don’t worry about it; my focus is on the next race. I take a shower and change into more comfortable clothes, and then I am calm. I just have a chat to my manager and any friends at the track and probably I am a bit hungry so I will eat something.

Q: If things don’t go your way and you retire early, do you prefer to get away as soon as possible, or hang out and watch the rest of the race?
JT: If that happens I stay at the track and watch the rest of the race. That way I have the chance to do a proper debrief with my engineers when the race has finished.

Q: Mario, in comparison to your recent podium results, Hungary was not a great race for BMW Sauber. What happened?
Mario Theissen: Well, this race has to be seen differently. Our performance on Friday was reasonable, the performance on Saturday in qualifying was good to very good, but our performance in the race was completely different. It looked like we weren’t there, that the race went on without us. At no point did Robert (Kubica) or Nick (Heidfeld) come close to the lap times they did in qualifying. And I have to admit that I don’t know the reason yet. What we certainly will look into is the equation of car, set-up, tyres and track conditions. If you look at Robert’s qualifying time he should have been able to fight at the front but in reality, in certain phases of the race, he was the slowest car on the track. What happened in the race was completely unexpected.

Q: Robert said that even on the first lap it was bad, but during the race it went from bad to worse. How did it look to you from the pit wall?
MT: It was the same for all of us.

Q: Could it be that the Hungaroring simply isn’t BMW Sauber’s track?
MT: I would not agree with that. In the last two years we have been on the podium, so there must be another explanation behind this disappointing performance. We were not just slow, we were also inconsistent. Like at Ferrari, we also witnessed that one car was doing much better than the other. There was something out there that we did not understand.

Q: BMW Sauber has now been relegated to third place in the constructors’ championship. Do you think you can regain your second position?
MT: Based on the performance and points yield of the Budapest weekend, you’d say certainly not. But naturally we will not twiddle our thumbs, as we still have developments in the pipeline - aerodynamic as well as mechanical - and we will definitely not stop the development of the F1.08 because of one unsatisfying result.

Q: Not so long ago one of your drivers seemed to be in trouble - now it seems it is the car…
MT: Well, Nick’s qualifying was certainly not what he had expected and it was the reason why he could not score points in the race. But what we saw in the race definitely had nothing to do with the drivers.

Q: Robert was on a two-stop strategy, while Nick was one-stopping. In reality, neither made much difference…
MT: The two stops were absolutely the right strategy for Robert, whereas in Nick’s case we opted for a one stop, reasoning that if we saw a safety-car phase, he would have the chance to move closer to the front. Without a safety car, however, it was quite clear that he would not be able to score points.

Q: There were two team principal meetings last week: one in Maranello and one during the Budapest weekend, with KERS one of the main topics. Regarding its introduction next year, is it still the case that three teams are behind it 100 percent, two teams are 50-50 and five teams are against it?
MT: That is not entirely wrong.

Q: You are fully supportive of KERS and its introduction next year. Do you understand why some teams are hesitant?
MT: Yes, I can understand them. There are reasons that have to be considered. On the one hand is the safety aspect and it goes without saying that we will not run KERS unless we are sure that those problems have been solved - and I am very confident that this will be the case. On the other hand there are financial aspects. And here I can understand the viewpoint of the independent teams, as for them KERS means an additional financial burden. But I would not consider this to be an argument for manufacturer teams because the development would continue even if we postponed KERS for one year. A technical development has never got cheaper by postponing it. And there is another side to the matter, which is immensely important even though it is not openly discussed, about the competitiveness of being with or without KERS. That issue must not be underestimated.

Q: Some of the independent teams fear that KERS could be a performance differentiator. Do you share these fears?
MT: I am not sure about that because even some of the manufacturer teams rely on the same supplier, who also offers the product to the independent teams.

Q: Valencia is the next stop on the Formula One calendar. It is virgin soil for all the teams. How do you prepare for such a situation?
MT: Before looking at a new race we will have to analyze what happened this weekend. But of course we will do anything possible to analyze a totally unfamiliar track. We have a track map and we can estimate how fast it is and which aero-settings it requires, but there will be more questions marks than usual before we drive there for the first time on the Friday. I expect much more action on the track during the Friday sessions than is usually the case.