Jarno Trulli said Toyota's domination of Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying was the perfect reward for the team's massive improvement over the winter.
Toyota looked quick from the start of pre-season testing, but has had an incident-packed year so far - with both cars disqualified from Melbourne qualifying, Timo Glock picking up a gearbox change penalty in China, and Trulli having his car mounted by Robert Kubica in last week's race.
But at Sakhir the Toyota duo were able to show their true potential, and proceeded to command qualifying and take their team's first ever front row lock-out.
"It was really nice to end up with first and second, especially for the Toyota team," said Trulli.
"It was great to show such a good result and what great work we've been doing over the winter."
The result was achieved despite Trulli struggling with brake problems, although he said he always thought he could challenge for pole despite the issue.
"It wasn't an easy qualifying for anyone, but for me it was even more difficult because after the first run we found a couple of problems with my car," he explained.
"I was struggling with the brakes, the pedal was getting long and I was not able to brake the way I wanted.
"Nevertheless, I didn't give up because I knew I had a good car and could fight for pole."
The result is only Toyota's third F1 pole, and its first since the 2005 Japanese GP.
Trulli took third from the back of the grid in Melbourne, but has had a tough time since, so hopes to kickstart his season at Sakhir.
"The first three races haven't really worked out for me but I hope we can now change that," he said.
"We tested here over the winter and this track has gone well for our cars in the past.
"To have both cars in the top two shows we did a very good job.
"I'd like to dedicate this pole both to my team, who have worked so hard, and to the people of my home region Abruzzo, who suffered a disastrous earthquake this month."