Trulli: Ralf deserved podium as well.

Jarno Trulli may have given Toyota its third podium finish of the season in what he described as possibly 'the best race' of his Formula One career, but the Italian insisted that team-mate Ralf Schumacher also deserved a similar reward.

The German out-qualified Trulli over the weekend's two sessions, and then got the jump on front row starter Mark Webber to run third in the opening stages of the race, heading the pursuit of leaders Kimi Raikkonen. Trulli, meanwhile, held on to his fifth spot early on, before using two quick pit-stops to make up ground, eventually finding himself ahead of his team-mate.

"I did some very quick laps when he pitted, so probably I made a lot of time then," he surmised, "I was very quick on the way in. Yes, the team had a problem with the fuel rig, but nevertheless I got ahead of him and managed to pull away at one stage, especially on heavy fuel.

"I had a different strategy to Ralf. I was quicker with more fuel and slower with a bit less fuel because of the car set-up but, right from the beginning to the end, I had to push really, really hard, even during my pit-stops..

"To be honest, I have to say that it was one of the best races of my career because the car wasn't very good and I had to fight very hard. I managed to keep ahead of Ralf, but it was a really tough job to do that, because Ralf was very quick and very competitive - and probably deserved third position as much as me. It is good because it means that Toyota are doing a good job."

Asked whether he thought second place may be on the cards as he and Schumacher homed in on Alonso midway through the race, Trulli admitted to being surprised by the Renault's apparent lack of pace, but reckoned that the TF105 wasn't quite a match for either of the cars ahead of him.

"It was a bit of a surprise to see Fernando slowing down so much but, compared to these two guys, there was nothing I could do," he revealed, "I predicted yesterday that Kimi and McLaren were very strong, perhaps even for Fernando and Renault, and obviously, at the moment, there is still a lot of work for us to do.

"I wasn't completely happy with my car, and to finish third with all the problems that I had - or I felt I had - is a great surprise and a great result. I'm really happy for the team, for all the engineers and mechanics because it was a tough weekend for me. I will never thank the Japanese people enough for everything that they have given to me, because it's my third podium of the season and, so far, it's a great feeling and it's a great championship for me."