Jarno Trulli's meteoric rise to prominence must be one of the quickest in Formula 1 history.
After a successful career in karts, Trulli completed only one season in single-seater racing - winning the 1996 German F3 championship before Minardi gave him his F1 chance in 1997.
Trulli spent only seven races with the Italian team before replacing Olivier Panis at Prost, when the Frenchman broke both his legs at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Italian finished an excellent fourth at Hockenheim but had to wait until the Austrian Grand Prix to really make his mark. Trulli led the race convincingly but was denied a fantastic win when his engine blew.
He got a full-time drive with Prost in 1998, but was saddled with a
useless car. He scored the team's only point all year in Belgium.
Undeterred, he stayed with the French team the following year and was rewarded with a vastly improved car. He scored seven points and
registered the best result of his career when he finished second in the
European Grand Prix, calmly holding off the Stewart of
Rubens Barrichello throughout the closing stages.
His performances landed him a drive with Jordan for 2000 but things did not go to plan.
Trulli put in a number of impressive qualifying performances - including front row spots in Monaco and Belgium - but managed only six points
because of reliability problems. His best finish was fourth in Brazil.