Sutil, Trulli beg to differ over shunt

Adrian Sutil and Jarno Trulli found themselves embroiled in a war of words following the Brazilian Grand Prix after the pair collided on the opening lap of the race at Interlagos.

Sutil had qualified third with Trulli fourth for the penultimate race of the season, although both were jumped at the start by the KERS-equipped Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn however then touched the rear of Mark Webber on the run to turn four and damaged his front wing, which resulted in the Ferrari man being slow out of turn five.

Sutil attempted to get past the Ferrari but touched Trulli in doing so, with the pair going off as a result. Trulli smashed into the barrier on the side of the circuit while Sutil slid across the grass and then collected Fernando Alonso with all three drivers forced out on the spot.

A clearly angry Trulli then confronted Sutil at the edge of the circuit and admitted after the race that he was far from amused with what had happened.

"I am extremely frustrated by what happened today because I had a very good chance to challenge for the podium," he said. "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 took a different view to the incident.

"The start was fine," he reflected. "I lost one position as Kimi overtook me on the outside. 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."

Stewards revealed that the event was under investigation as the race continued, but that was little consolation to Alonso who simply found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"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."