Jarno rues missed podium

Trulli made a strong start to take fifth place going into the first corner and although he was unable to keep pace with the leading quartet, he managed to fend off Kimi Raikkonen behind him.

Later in the race he was unable to take advantage of Ralf Schumacher's tyre troubles due to time time lost lapping backmarkers, and this dropped him into the clutches of Giancarlo Fisichella.

He fended off the Jordan to secure a fourth place finish, his best result since last year's US GP at Indianapolis.

"It's good to score my first points," said a relived Trulli. "A perfectly managed strategy allowed me to claim fourth today. I made a great start, but it became difficult to keep up with the leaders as the tyres got more and more worn. After my stop, I was able to push again on a new set, but then Heidfeld blocked me for about 20 laps, even though he was a lap down. There were no blue flags at all, and when I finally managed to get past, I was struggling with worn tyres. So, it's a good result, but I think that once we've analysed the race, we'll view it as a missed podium because of the time I lost behind the Sauber."