Where Are They Now: Jarno Trulli

Jarno Trulli is not your ‘typical Italian’: he arrives early for appointments; does not care for football, claiming he did not even support Italy in World Cups; and he even has a Finnish name – he is called Jarno after a Finnish motorcycle rider, something which confused the Italian media when Trulli entered Formula 1. Paddock magazine takes a glance at what is Jarno up to these days.

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“When I made the announcement I was entering F1 with Minardi,” he explains, “many people thought I was Finnish. The Italians did not know me because I had not driven in Italy!”. His lack of fame in his home country is something that changed very fast in a few years as Trulli made his mark in Formula 1.

Schooled for 12 years in karting, Jarno came to Formula 1 with an impressive list of achievements. He is the only Formula 1 driver to have won everything there is to win in karting. “It was very important for me to get my grounding in karting,” he explains. “I used to go to karting events from the age of three. My father drove as a hobby and I used to go along with my mother to support him”. As a result, Trulli was a big fan of motorsport from an early age and was watching Formula 1 from the tender age of four. “Then one day,” he recalls with glee, “when I was about seven, there was a new category for young people called mini-kart and my dad asked me if I wanted a go. Once I was in the kart that was it – I didn’t want to get out again! But I never dreamed where it would lead me!”.

Having gained fantastic experience as a driver in Formula 1, my involvement in the FIA Formula E Championship certainly is a new challenge, not only as a driver but also as a team owner.

During his F1 career, Jarno qualified in 256 GPs with Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Lotus Racing and Team Lotus, placing himself (together with Patrese) 3rd on the all-time list, behind Rubens Barrichello (322) and Michael Schumacher.

Today he is the co-owner of a vineyard Castorani in the Abruzzo region in Italy and produces his own wine. Also, he also has his own range of Karts named ‘Trulli Kart’. In June 2014 it was announced that Trulli was to drive in the inaugural FIA Formula E Championship, driving for a team bearing his own name in partnership with Drayson Racing Technologies and Super Nova Racing. He stated: “I am pleased that the FIA selected TrulliGP to be part of the FIA Formula E Championship. Having gained fantastic experience as a driver in Formula 1, my involvement in the FIA Formula E Championship certainly is a new challenge, not only as a driver but also as a team owner. Competing at the highest level of performance with a clean energy car with the support of Drayson Technologies makes this challenge even more exciting. I am very pleased to be a pioneer of this new Formula E project.”