Quite possibly the greatest qualifier since Ayrton Senna, Jarno Trulli rarely fails to impress on Saturday afternoons. However, his qualifying performances more often than not overshadow his race-day pace when he regularly slips through the field. Even with his qualifying heroics, he has clinched just four pole positions, and won just a single race, having never had the privilege of driving a championship-challenging car.

Following a three-year stint with Prost, Trulli began the decade with Jordan. The two years with the team proved to be frustrating and largely unrewarding as poor reliability regularly scuppered his chances for points. In qualifying trim, he proved himself with regular top ten grid position, only ever qualifying outside the top ten on five occasions in his 34 races with the team. Top ten finishes were also a regular occurrence, but with points only being offered down to sixth, he was all-too-often given scant reward for his efforts.

Trulli moved to the newly rebranded Renault team for 2002, partnering Jenson Button, but despite the support of a major car manufacturer the team didn't represent a major step forward for Trulli from the Jordan of 2001. With nine retirements and just four points-scoring races, Trulli finished the season on nine points.

A gradual improvement followed for 2003, when he was partnered by Fernando Alonso. Top-ten grid slots and race finishes continued to be the norm, but with reliability significantly improved Trulli scored points in ten races, helped by the new points-scoring system. He also scored his first podium of the decade in Germany and started on the front row twice, still without a pole position or victory to his name.

2004 would prove to be one of Trulli's most successful years in Formula One, but also marked a low point in his career. After scoring points in all of the first five races, Trulli drove superbly in Monaco to win from pole position, scoring his only F1 victory to date. But a mixture of poor luck, reliability and pace saw his season take a downhill turn. Five non-scoring races later saw Trulli get sacked from Renault, with three races remaining. Having already signed for Toyota for the following season, Trulli drove the final two races of the year for the Japanese team, again failing to score points.

With the help of Mike Gascoyne, Toyota engineered an impressively quick car for 2005, and Trulli immediately took advantage. Qualifying second at the season-opener, he slipped out of the points during the race, but raced to second in the following Malaysian and Bahrain Grands Prix. Once again though, his early-season pace would not continue throughout the season, and he ended the year with four non-scoring races, dropping him behind team-mate Schumacher in the championship.

A poor 2006 Toyota meant Trulli returned to his days of impressive qualifying performances followed by mediocre race-day showings. Although an updated B-spec car improved the team's pace somewhat, fourth place was the best he could muster, finishing the year with 15 points. 2007 continued in a similar vein of form, on this occasion scoring just eight points, as solid qualifying positions went unconverted. Even with 14 top-ten grid starts, he finished inside the top ten on just six occasions, scoring points four times.

Following a two-year dip in form, Trulli returned to be a regular points scorer in 2008, returning to the podium for the first time in three years at the French Grand Prix. A collection of other points scoring finishes put the Italian ninth in the championship on 31 points.

Toyota's upward trend continued for 2009, but Trulli was unable to convert its impressive pace into a second victory despite four front-row starts and three podium finishes. He started the year with a superb third place having started from the pitlane in Australia, and took pole position in Bahrain only for a poor strategy call to cost him the chance of victory. He started from second place in the Belgian Grand Prix but fell back after a first-lap accident, and another first-lap accident robbed him the chance of victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix having started second again.

Even before Toyota announced its withdrawal from F1 at the end of the year, Trulli was on the look-out for a seat elsewhere on the grid, having been told his contract would not be renewed. The Italian is expected to join the new Team Lotus next season, where he will renew his successful relationship with Mike Gascoyne.

Decade highs:
Debut pole position and victory at the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix
Three podiums in four races for Toyota at the start of the 2005 season

Decade lows:
Acrimonious split with Renault in 2004
Being unable to take a win with the impressive 2009 Toyota

2010s?
With pace and experience, Trulli is a perfect candidate for one of the new teams in 2010, and as mentioned above, is expected to join Lotus. However, his position is likely to be usurped by young talent coming through the ranks and may last only a year or two into the 2010s.