SUZUKA, Japan (AFP) - Toyota savoured a podium finish in their home Grand Prix on Sunday with Jarno Trulli calling his second place a fantstic feeling.

The Japanese manufacturer went into the race with just one driver after Timo Glock was ruled out following his heavy crash on Saturday that left him with a deep gash in his leg.

But Trulli made amends with a storming race for his best finish of the year.

"Standing on the podium in the team's home Grand Prix is a fantastic feeling and this great result is down to the whole team; the engineers, mechanics and everyone, including Timo," said the experienced Italian.

"We work really well together as part of a great team and it's a pity he wasn't able to race.

"The car, with the new package, has been really competitive all weekend and I knew the start was likely to be the toughest point of the race.

"We made a strong start and I almost held my position, but Lewis (Hamilton) got by and after that I spent the whole race fighting with him."

Despite losing his second place to Hamilton at the start, Trulli reclaimed it by the team being better in the pit stops with Toyota Motor Sports president John Howett praising his whole outfit.

"Jarno did a brilliant job with the only Toyota in the race," he said.

"It's great to get a result like this in our home Grand Prix; we really appreciate our partners and fans so I hope they enjoyed our performance.

"It's unfortunate Timo couldn't join him in the race because I am sure he would have also had a very strong result but I am very happy with Jarno's podium."

While Toyota have had a successful spin through Asia - Glock finished second in Singapore last week - their driver line-up for next season remains uncertain.

The team has been chasing BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica but it looks increasingly likely that they have lost out to Renault in the race for the Pole's services.

"It looks like we have probably lost Robert, so we need to look next week and really see what we finally do," Howett told the BBC.

"(Regarding Trulli) we will have to wait and see. He did a great job, but we have to look at the total season and really reconsider.

"It really depends which way the market moves in the next couple of weeks and if somebody else arrives and we consider them a better option, we have to take them."