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Trulli still hampered by steering

ESPNF1 Staff
June 22, 2011 « 'I feel at home' - Petrov | »
Jarno Trulli says he doesn't get the feedback he needs through the steering wheel © Sutton Images
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Jarno Trulli says he is still suffering from problems with the power steering on his Lotus T128, and that "it's like driving blindfolded."

Trulli outqualified Heikki Kovalainen for the first time this season in Canada, having previously struggled to get near to the level of his team-mate over one lap. Trulli said that the power steering was an ongoing problem that was preventing him from pushing to the limit, and that it was something that would need to be fixed as he is unable to change his driving style to compensate.

"The real problem is with the power steering, because it carries on troubling me," Trulli told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "If I don't have clear feedback from the steering, as is always the case nowadays, I can't adapt: my driving is very precise and I can't make up for it nor I can feel the limit. It's like driving blindfolded.

"Kovalainen, instead, doesn't have these problems, so he goes quicker than me. In qualifying I can never bring out the best, while I do well at race starts, when the car is heavy because of the fuel load. But when it gets lighter it's trouble for me."

Trulli also said that Lotus has not progressed as quickly as he had expected, complaining that the car wasn't quick enough to fight in the midfield.

"These are not good times for me: the car is not efficient in its aerodynamics. After a 2010 of settling in, I was expecting to be fighting in the middle of the pack; instead we are always at the back. Lotus is still building up experience."

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