Trulli, Sutil blame each other for crash

Date published : 18 Oct 2009 - 21:14:38

Jarno Trulli and Adrian Sutil pinned the blame squarely at each other s door for the first-lap collision that took both of them out of the Brazilian Grand Prix.Squabbling over fourth place, Trulli attempted to pass the Force India driver going round the outside of the flat-out turn five but lost control of his Toyota after putting two wheels on the grass and slammed into the side of Sutil.The collision sent Trulli spearing across the track into a side-on impact with a wall, while Sutil flew across the grass, and then back onto the track, where he collected the helpless Renault of Fernando Alonso.Trulli then remonstrated with Sutil after both had got out of their wrecked cars, with the Italian veteran later claiming he felt the German had unfairly squeezed him out over the kerb."I am extremely frustrated by what happened today because I had a very good chance to challenge for the podium, Trulli said of the incident. On the first lap Sutil was very slow through turn four because he was fighting with Raikkonen. He was on the inside so I took the outside line but he kept pushing me wider and wider. In the end I was on the grass and had no control of the car so I crashed into the wall at high speed. I think there was enough space for both of us to get around the corner."Unsurprisingly Sutil differed greatly in his view of the incident, labelling Trulli s attempted pass stupid .The Force India driver, who had looked good for a strong race finish after qualifying a superb third, said he was following the slowing Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen ahead and was taken by surprise by the appearance of Trulli. The start was fine, I lost one position as Kimi [Raikkonen] overtook me on the outside, Sutil explained. It was fine for the next corner but then Kimi hit Webber and lost his front wing. I was following him through the corner but then suddenly I got hit in the rear and lost control of the car. Trulli was there on the outside trying to go round. It was a really stupid manoeuvre as there was no space and I couldn't see him at all. At that point it wasn't worth it and it ended my race far too early on as I went over into the gravel. Jarno was furious and said it was my mistake but I just told him what had happened to me. But it's over and now he's just got to deal with it. Race stewards investigated the crash after the race but decided that it had been a racing incident and no further action was needed, although Trulli was reprimanded and fined $10,000 for his behaviour afterwards when he angrily confronted Sutil.Renault driver Alonso had been the innocent victim in the pair s squabble, the Spaniard unable to avoid a collision with Sutil as the Force India driver careered back on the circuit as he turned into turn six.Alonso was naturally frustrated to have had his quest for a points finish thwarted through no fault of his so early on. It was a very busy first lap and unfortunately I got caught up in it, he said. I made a good start and we had a promising strategy for the race, but unfortunately when Sutil and Trulli collided I was hit by the Force India as well. It s a real shame because this is a special track for me; I always enjoy racing here and I think we could have scored points today.