Aye, I'd say the TF105 from the first half of the 2005 season was. McLaren and Renault were ahead of anyone else in '05 but I'd say early on the Toyota was a clear 3rd fastest car. It still saddens me they never were able to keep the car developing enough to keep up the momentum.
*Runs off to see Trulli's qualifying lap at Bahrain 2005*
Y'know, as much as I hate the Ferrari dominance from 2002-2006, for some reason I desperately miss these F1 years. Maybe it's the Toyotas I was cheering so much for. Maybe it was the ruthless Montoya. Maybe it was the back-then-brilliant Williams team. Maybe it was the ice-cold Raikkonen.
Just for old-time's sake:
I tend to watch this very lap along with my breakfast, always makes for a good start to the day!
That engine sound literally makes me smile. I wish I had been old enough to see the V-10's (First race I ever watched was Canada 2008, where Kubica won) do their stuff. I wish I could have seen the Ferrari dominance of the sport, or when Alonso was starting to fight back. It just looked like such a different sport from what it was today. More exciting and such.
Honestly, I think just about all of the Truli, Glock, Kovalinen-types have the same ability to resurrect their careers the same way Button did. A year in a dominant car to boost your spirit, suddenly a big team notices you, and Wham! Now you're a contender. Kubica had his win in Canada which put him on the spot as "Best of the rest". Renault, having lost Alonso again, but who could bring a competitive car in the near-future, picked him up. Sadly, he injured himself in a rally crash. But imagine the spectacle it would have been in the First half of this season when Petrov was up near the top. Kubica, who I believe to be a better driver, could have been fighting for podiums or even Wins.
Anyone can have a "Button" moment. (Well, almost.) All of the older guys languishing in the bottom half of the field have the experience that if they were given a reasonably fast car, it would make things interesting. But it seems the F1 God rolled the dice in favor of Button in 2009, and not any of the others, damned to mid-field or lower cars.
The cure? Bring back testing. Get the factory more data to test more bits and pieces to put on the cars to make them more competitive. Now, since everyone would have the same testing hours, and some have different budgets (McLaren and Ferrari would make HUGE strides whilst HRT struggled to re-paint their front wing) you could make it so the teams in the top... idk, 3? In constructors standings only get.... 50%? of the testing time. Or something like that.
I don't see any reason to criticise Trulli to the extent of saying he should be dropped. He hasn't matched his teammate but there have been valid reasons for this. But he has been very close, close enough to warrant being kept on over rookies and pay drivers.
