Toyota man frustrated after qualifying problems limit race potential.

Timo Glock has admitted that his 13th place finish in the Turkish Grand Prix was not representative of Toyota's potential, despite team-mate Jarno Trulli also failing to score points in Istanbul.

A mistake in qualifying left the German on the back foot for the rest of the weekend, and a subsequent mechanical problem meant that he never recovered to a position where he could haul the TF108 into the top eight.

"We definitely had more potential than the result suggests," Glock sighed, "We found a good set-up for the car on Friday and I was very optimistic about making it through to the last part of qualifying and getting a strong grid position, but then things didn't work out for me. From then on, it was always going to be very difficult to score points.

"Unfortunately, I went out with the first set of tyres [in Q2], made a small mistake and didn't get the lap time. Then, with the second set of tyres, the car was really good, the lap was spot-on and I was three tenths up on my 1min 26.6secs lap from the first run, but, on the run to turn nine, a drive peg on the right front wheel broke and I had to back off. I think a top ten grid position was realistic, and I might have even made fifth or sixth in Q2 without my problem."

Restricted to the bottom of the Q2 timesheets, Glock faced a long afternoon unless there was a high rate of attrition at Istanbul Park and, although there were a couple of incidents at the first corner, he was unable to capitalise, only making up two places by the chequered flag.

"You have little choice but to fuel up the car for a long stint and see if you can use strategy to improve your position," he reflected, "It wasn't helped when I made a slow start and then had to avoid the accident between Kazuki Nakajima and Giancarlo Fisichella. In the first stint, I was behind Rubens Barrichello and, even though I had better pace than the Honda, I couldn't get past. That was pretty much my story for the whole race and, with so few retirements, 13th was the best I could do."

Despite his situation, however, Glock did manage to find a smile when a recovering Heikki Kovalainen closed on him.

"I enjoyed that," he said, "He had a quicker car, but we were racing for position and I wasn't about to give up. He overtook me once and I got him back. It was a bit like the GP2 fight I had with Lewis Hamilton at Istanbul - I wasn't going to make it easy for him!"

Formula One now heads for the jewel in its crown, Monaco, and Glock is hoping that his enjoyment of the Principality can continue for another season.

"I love racing there, even if it is very punishing to any mistakes," he said, "I particularly enjoyed my GP2 races there, and the 2006 race was actually quite a pivotal moment in my career.

"I started 17th and got all the way up to fourth before I had to stop with a gearbox problem. It was a key moment because iSport team boss Paul Jackson was watching the race as his two drivers were out. He was at the Swimming Pool area and he realised I was doing very well in a car that was not perfectly set up. When he had trouble with one of his drivers [Tristan Gommendy] later, he gave me the chance and I took it.

"Now, I'm looking forward to trying to get the best out of the TF108 around the streets."