After three overseas races in Australia, Malaysia and Bahrain - and a lot of air-miles on my frequent flyer account! - the F1 circus is now back in Europe. The Spanish Grand Prix next weekend takes place at the Circuit de Catalunya outside Barcelona and all teams are very well prepared for this race: The Circuit de Catalunya is the most popular test track in F1 and all teams spent several days at the circuit last winter. And last week almost all the team returned to Spain for another four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya. Panasonic Toyota Racing had three successful days - and a day of “Rain in Spain”: The fourth and last day of the test was ruined by heavy rain in the morning and several showers in the afternoon. “But is was still a useful test and we have prepared well for next week´s Spanish Grand Prix,” Test Team Manager Gerd Pfeiffer says.

With all teams having collected a lot of data over the winter and during last week´s test, the Spanish Grand Prix is likely to be a more predictable race than the first three overseas Grands Prix. This should be good news for Panasonic Toyota Racing, who seem to have established themselves as the leading team in the very close midfield of 2008: Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes and BMW are still a little bit ahead, but more often than not the next group is lead by Panasonic Toyota Racing. This is also confirmed by Jarno Trulli´s position in the Drivers´ World Championship - the Italian is currently seventh - immediately behind six drivers from the three top teams.

The mild climate in the winter months is not the only reason the Circuit de Catalunya is a popular test venue. The circuit is also a good indicator of how strong a new car will be over the season, as it makes very wide-ranging demands on the car: If your car is fast at the Circuit de Catalunya it is likely to be fast everywhere!

Spain is one of the “oldest” countries in the F1 calendar. The World Championship began in 1950 and the following year Spain joined the series with a street race in Barcelona´s Pedralbes area. Another Barcelona street circuit - on the Montjuich mountain - has also hosted the Spanish Grand Prix as has the Jarama circuit (close to Madrid) and Jerez (still a popular test venue). Today, the Spanish Grand Prix seems to have found a permanent home at the Circuit de Catalunya just north of Barcelona, but later this year we will return to Spain when a new street circuit in Valencia hosts the European Grand Prix for the first time.

I will be back with news from behind the Panasonic Toyota Racing scenes on Friday!

The opening day of practice for Sunday´s Spanish Grand Prix here at the Circuit de Catalunya is over. Kimi Raikkonen was fastest ahead of Nelson Piquet Jr while Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock were 14th. and 20th. fastest in the final session.

The Spanish Grand Prix is the fourth race of the season (and the first in Europe). That means the drivers have now had some time to adapt to the Formula One 2008 style, which includes a ban on traction control. Before the season started, some drivers were quite worried about the new rules, but Panasonic Toyota Racing´s Timo Glock was not one of them. “Remember - I come from GP2 and before that I was racing in the US ChampCar series - which both run without traction control. For me, the new ban on traction control in F1 will not be a problem and I guess all drivers will adapt quickly to the new rules. Remember: We are supposed to be the 22 best racing drivers in the world - after a few races, we will have forgotten everything about traction control.”

Timo was right, of course: Today, hardly any drivers talk about traction control and Jarno Trulli actually says the ban was a good thing: “In a way, technology had taken over driver input," he says. "It is good to have a step back and give the car back to the driver. It is more fun and we have more input into car performance. I like it because you need to be more sensitive and you really need to drive the car," Jarno goes on.

The first race in Melbourne saw quite a few drivers go off the track in both practice and the race. At the time, some people blamed the many incidents on the new rules, but that was only part of the reason according the Panasonic Toyota Racing´s Senior General Manager Chassis Pascal Vasselon. “Perhaps part of it was just typical Melbourne,” he says. “It used to be a bit like that in Austria too, at Zeltweg, where you were used to seeing cars spinning. I think the major contributor is the low grip characteristics of Albert Park. But certainly this has been amplified by the fact that the drivers have to be more sensitive with the throttle.”

Panasonic Toyota Racing Team Manager Richard Cregan agrees:
"Trying to control that much horsepower in a car which is quite delicate puts a lot more back into the hands of the drivers. But these are professionals and they go out there with a passion to win; they have to show what they can do without traction control. There's been a lot of discussion about it - but my personal view is, get out there, drive the car, show what you can do - it's about your talent as a driver."

It seems traction control is all but forgotten!

Kimi Raikkonen will start tomorrow´s Spanish Grand Prix here at the Circuit de Catalunya from pole position. Fernando Alonso will be alongside him on the front row while Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock are eighth and 14th. on the provisional grid.

Today´s results underline that Panasonic Toyota Racing have enjoyed a strong start to the 2008 season. This was also the feeling I got from listening to Toyota Motorsport President John Howett. “Yes - we were encouraged by the performance in Malaysia. It was more or less where we think we should be competing based on the winter test evaluation. We didn’t do a particularly god job in bringing the cars home in Australia, but certainly that second bunch behind the two quick teams is very tight,” he said.

John also talked about Timo Glock, who is having his first season with Panasonic Toyota Racing. The president is impressed by the young German: “I think we put him under pressure in the first race in Australia,” John said. “We had a five place penalty for the gear box. We released him late at the end of qualifying, so basically he got a five place penalty because he was clearly in the way. In the race he was performing fairly well. He had a small off and was unfortunate not to come back on the track. In Malaysia basically again he had issues. I think we need to get him there in a good condition and allow him to race. In Malaysia through no fault of his own he was hit from behind.

According to John, Timo´s arrival in the team has changed Jarno. “I think it is really great to see Jarno so motivated and so happy at the moment. That’s mainly the car, but Timo is very quick and I think they are pushing each other. They have a good relationship and at the moment things are going very well.”

Jarno scored points in both Malaysia and Bahrain and is currently seventh in the championship. The Italian has also been very strong in qualifying, and John has a simple explanation of Trulli´s strong start to 2008: “I think he likes the car”.

With fourth place in Malaysia (in front of Lewis Hamilton, remember), a “podium” is clearly the next step for Jarno. But is that likely? “Clearly there’s a gap between us and, shall we say, third or second place on the podium,” John says. “But we’ve just got to keep working and improving the car. I think that given a good car, we have a very strong capability. Jarno´s race performances have been strong, consistent, and if we can improve the overall speed of the car we will be there.”

But even a third or second place is not enough for John and Panasonic Toyota Racing - at least not if you look at the mid to long term future of the team.: “No, we race to win,” John says. “But we have to be practical as the gap in our view to Ferrari is still fairly significant.”

Exactly how big the gap to Ferrari is in race conditions will be revealed tomorrow in the Spanish Grand Prix!