Timo Glock really entered the spotlight in the 2008 season finale, when his last-gasp loss of fifth place to Lewis Hamilton allowed the Briton to snatch the championship.

But while all the attention was focused on Hamilton’s triumph, many were impressed that Glock had been able to keep his dry tyres going for so long on the increasingly wet Interlagos track.

It was one of many quietly impressive performances during Glock’s first season with Toyota.

He didn’t grab the headlines like his young countryman Sebastian Vettel, but he played a big part in Toyota’s resurgence and showed he will be ready to win grands prix if and when his team can take the final step up.


Career log

Glock emulated Nico Rosberg and Hamilton by graduating to F1 as GP2 champion, but his route to the top was more tortuous and hard-fought than his predecessors’ junior careers.

He first came to the F1 paddock’s attention as Jordan’s Friday tester in 2004, when his spectacular manhandling of the wayward EJ14 chassis caught the eye.

Race driver Giorgio Pantano’s financial issues allowed Glock to make his GP debut in Canada, where amid a little chaos, some disqualifications and a power-sapping engine problem, he snatched two points.

He later replaced Pantano for the final three races of the season, but did not impress and headed for the American Champ Car series for 2005.

The hard-charging Glock achieved some miracles for the midfield Rocketsports team in the States, including a near-win in Montreal, and was courted by top teams at the end of the season.

But he was not willing to give up on F1 yet, and decided to try to break back in via GP2.

It looked like a bad move as Glock struggled with the BCN team’s slow and unreliable car in the opening rounds, but a mid-season switch to iSport transformed his career.

He was soon winning races, and charged from nowhere to fourth in the championship.

Glock stayed at iSport for 2007 and duly delivered the title – despite poor reliability and a run of bizarre misfortunes.

By that time Glock was a BMW F1 test driver, but with no room in its race team, he opted to join Toyota for his second crack at the big time.

Following a hesitant start, a strong drive to fourth in Canada got his season going, and he then took a remarkable second place in Hungary just a fortnight after a suspension failure at Hockenheim caused a massive crash and a brief stay in hospital.


The early years

After title wins in Germany’s ADAC Junior and Formula BMW series, Glock finished a strong third in his national Formula 3 series at the first attempt in 2002, taking a trio of victories along the way.

He stayed on for the following year when the championship became the F3 Euro Series, but his KMS team struggled to hold its own in the stronger field.

Nevertheless Glock still managed three impressive wins and earned enough backing to get a foothold in F1 with Jordan for 2004.