After making his grand prix debut with the Bridgestone-shod Jordan team in 2004, Timo switched to the ChampCar World Series in '05 and the GP2 Series in '06 and '07, all of which use Bridgestone tyres. This will be his fifth consecutive year with Bridgestone, so we welcome the 25-year-old German back in F1 with Toyota.
Glock is one of only a few drivers to get a second chance in F1. After contesting four races for Jordan in '04, which included a seventh place points finish at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, he was left high and dry at the end of the year. Financial pressures forced Jordan to take pay drivers Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro in '05 and Glock was forced to seek refuge in the USA-based ChampCar World Series.
At his favourite track, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Glock finished second - his best ChampCar result of the year - but he knew almost before the season had begun that he wanted to return to Europe to have another crack at F1.
"I knew that if I didn't return to Europe immediately, I wouldn't get another chance in F1," says Glock. "That's why I decided to take a step back, to GP2, in the hope of catching the attention of the F1 team bosses."
He did just that, winning two races in 2006 and driving some fantastic races against that year's champion, Lewis Hamilton. Timo then stayed in the series in '07, winning five more races and dominating the year as Hamilton had 12 months earlier. That was enough to convince Toyota, who were looking for someone young and hungry to replace Ralf Schumacher.
"There are not so many drivers who get a second chance in F1," continues Timo, "so I'm very happy. I don't think my previous experience in F1 will help me much because F1 has changed a lot in four years, so it's good for me to have a team-mate like Jarno [Trulli] alongside me because he has a lot of experience."
All Glock needs now is a car in which he can show the world what he can do behind the wheel. The early signs are that this year's TF108 is an improvement over last year's TF107, but it's still some way off Ferrari and McLaren, who have set the pace in winter testing.
"At the recent Bahrain test," says Glock, "Ferrari were quite a lot quicker than us. But we learnt a lot about the car and I remain convinced that this car has more development potential than last year's car, so I'm sure we can close the gap to the front-runners as the year goes on. My initial goal is to try and get into the top eight, a points-scoring position, and then the top five. If I can do that, I'll be happy with progress."
Given how well Timo's gone at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on his two previous visits, he'll no doubt be hoping for a repeat performance this year - not that he'll admit it. "My job," he says, "is to be quick at every track." If he does that, he has a long-term future in F1.
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