JUNE 19, 2004

The future of Jarno Trulli

There were rumours in the paddock at Indianapolis that Jarno Trulli and Renault may be having difficulty agreeing to new terms for the Italian's contract for 2005 and beyond. Trulli's existing contract comes to an end this year but it was expected that a re-signing would be a formality. It seems however that since his win in Monaco Jarno and his manager Lucio Cavuto have concluded that his value has increased significantly and therefore they want rather more than Renault is currently willing to offer. Renault can use Mark Webber as a lever against Trulli and this is actually very useful because it enables Flavio Briatore, Webber's manager, to use Trulli's seat as a lever to get Williams to pay for Webber's release from his commitment to Renault. Trulli does have some leverage over Renault because there is the vague possibility that Jarno could go to Williams or to Toyota. Both have shown some interest but no more than that and we believe that the most likely scenario will be that Trulli will stay where he is next year and his financial demands will be moderated.