As the news dies down from the Virgin Racing launch this week, it is time I return with the Season Review from this year. This time, we take a look with what has been said by Timo Glock and other people about Glock.
15th January – Toyota TF109 launch
“If you look back at the cars I have been racing for the last five years they have all been quite different, with the 2004 Jordan, then Champ Car, GP2 and the Toyota TF108, and I have been competitive in each of them. That shows how quickly I can adapt to a different car so I don’t have any concerns at all about adjusting to the 2009-style Formula 1 cars. I am sure the other drivers will adapt quickly as well but I certainly expect to hit the ground running.”
24th January – Portugese Rain disrupts test
"It’s a pity to end the test like this, but that’s just the way it is and it is the same for all the teams here. At least at our next test in Bahrain, we can expect much better weather and many more laps, which is what we need to develop the new car."
10th February – Glock leads on first day of Bahrain test.
"The car felt quite consistent, which is already a positive sign, and we got through a lot of laps, so an encouraging start to the test."
2nd March – Drenched Jerez sees Glock quickest
"It tends to be difficult to carry out meaningful testing when there is so much rain. The conditions made things tricky again today but at least it stayed consistently wet so we were able to go through some work on set-up and tyres."
12th March – Testing ends in foggy Barcelona
"Of course we’ll only see the real results on Saturday in Melbourne, but everyone at Toyota can be happy with our work so far. We’ve made fine progress so roll on the first race."
24th March – Glock drives a Hilux on two wheels
"This was a lot of fun. Although, I think it would be a little hard to drive a Formula 1 car on two wheels."
27th March – Toyota thrown out of Australian Qualifying
"The Stewards have received a report from the Technical Delegate that the upper wing elements of cars number 9 and 10 are showing extreme flexibility in contravention of Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations"
FIA
28th March – 4th in the race after stunning Australia drive
“For us to be fighting at the front like that after we started from the pit lane really shows the strong performance we have. This is proof that our car has real pace. It was a good race for me and I have to say thanks to the team for their hard work in achieving this.”
4th April – Solid drive puts Glock 5th on grid
"Overall the qualifying went quite well and I’m happy to be starting third. But I’m a bit frustrated with my final lap in Q3 because I was struggling a little bit to get used to how the car felt with a heavier fuel load. That meant I didn’t get 100% out of the car.”
5th April – Crazy rain ensures a Timo podium
“The last two laps behind the safety car it was so confusing. My engineer told me when I did the pit stop ‘you are leading the race,’ so I said ‘okay, I don’t push because I want to save the tyres.’ Then I saw Jenson coming out just ahead of me, so I was P2. Then I jumped out of the car and now I am here I am P3. So hopefully when I come back down I will still be in P3. That’s what I am hoping for.”
Keep an eye out for Part 2, which will focus on the next few races of the 2009 season
