Exhausted Trulli Pleased with Podium Finish

Jarno Trulli was exhausted but pleased after scoring the second podium of his Formula One career at today's German Grand Prix.

Italian Trulli and Spaniard Fernando Alonso finished third and fourth in the two Renaults, but Trulli, suffering from exhaustion and dehydration, almost collapsed afterwards and missed the normally mandatory news conference.

He lay on the ground before climbing the podium, being sprayed with water.

"It is a wonderful feeling to score my first podium for Renault," admitted the Italian, who had finished on the podium only once before, at the 1999 European Grand Prix. "I took advantage of the accident at the first corner and, during the first two stints, the car was very good: Montoya was faster than me, but I was controlling the people behind.

"However, fifteen laps from the end, I started suffering from blistering on the rear tyres. When the cars behind caught me, I lost two places, but Michael's problem was a stroke of luck which brought me a podium finish. We had a very good weekend, we were competitive right from the first session, and this is a good reward."

Alonso was pleased with his result after a difficult race.

"The result is OK, and it feels good to be scoring points again," said Alonso. "We have been very competitive since Silverstone, and this is a good result for the team in terms of the championship.

"From my point of view, I pushed during the whole race: it was tough, and my mistake didn't help matters, but finishing fourth is not too bad after starting from eighth."