MAY 10, 2004

Why the result in Spain was so good for Renault

"We really needed that result," said a Renault F1 team member on Monday after the Spanish Grand Prix. "The last few days have been really tough."

The reason for this was the news just after Imola that the team's chief aerodynamicist Dino Toso has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer. This came as a huge blow to the morale of the Enstone team and a good performance in the race in Spain from both Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso has helped the team to bounce back. Trulli said that he dedicated his race to Toso and that he would be giving the Italo-Dutchman his trophy for third place. Trulli is also playing an active role in trying to find alternative treatments for Toso.

Toso is one of the rising stars of F1 aerodynamics. He has been with Renault since the start of 2001 and became head of aerodynamics after John Iley joined Ferrari last winter. The 35 year old has been involved in racing since 1995 when he joined a BMW GT team as a track engineer, having completed his training as an aerodynamicist. He moved to F1 in 1997 with Jordan and became Damon Hill's race engineer in 1998 and 1999. He worked with Trulli at Jordan in 2000 and then moved to Renault.