Sao Paolo: The aggressive confrontation with
Force India driver Adrian Sutil today hit Jarno Trulli in the
pocket as he was slapped with a USD 10,000 fine for the
showdown that followed their opening lap tangle in yesterday's
Brazilian Grand Prix here.
On lap one, Toyota's Trulli got into a tangle with Sutil
while attempting a move on the German driver and after
considering video evidence, the stewards decided not to take
any further action, calling it a regular racing incident.
Trulli was subsequently found guilty of "failing to
leave the track as required by the marshals immediately after
the incident and aggressively confronting Sutil", which
amounted to breaching Article 151 (c) of the 2009 FIA
International Sporting Code, which rules against "any act
prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the
interests of motor sport generally."
"Consequently he was reprimanded and fined USD 10,000,"
the FIA said in a statement.
Trying to overtake Sutil, who himself was struggling to
control his car after Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari had brushed his
wheel, Trulli put a wheel on the grass and went spinning.
The Italian nearly came to blows with Sutil after the
incident.
McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen and his team also copped
penalties.
With the safety car deployed following the Trulli-Sutil
crash, another drama was on in the pit-lane where Kovalainen
came out when his fuel hose was still attached to the car and
McLaren were fined USD 50,000 for the unsafe pit-stop.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, October 19, 2009, 16:04