Being Toyota's first recruitment of a top driver and Grand Prix winner, Jarno Trulli's move from Renault was big news. It was late during the season, and Trulli was dropped from Renault's race line-up despite matching his team-mate Fernando Alonso, and replaced by Jacques Villeneuve. Soon after, Toyota F1 revealed that Trulli would race for them during the 2005 season and beyond. However, Olivier Panis retired from racing before the year was out, leaving a space in Toyota's race attack, meaning Trulli was promoted earlier than anticipated. Qualifying 6th on his Toyota debut in Japan was the start of a competitive run for the team. No points were scored that year, although Trulli comfortably outpaced his team-mate Ricardo Zonta.