Trulli Apologies for Red Flag Incident

Italian Jarno Trulli apologised for forcing today's qualifying to be red flagged after his Renault engine exploded half way through the session.

The Renault driver was completing his first attempt when, on the penultimate corner of the circuit, his engine let go, spilling oil all over the racing line.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello and German Heinz-Harald Frentzen ran off the track after running over the oil, and the stewards decided to red-flag the session in order to dry the track's surface.

"First of all, I want to apologise for the red flag," said Trulli, who qualified in 16th place. "The engine let go suddenly, and there was really nothing I could do to control the car.

"I then jumped into the spare, which was set up for Jenson, and even though the team managed to change almost everything, I still struggled a little with brakes I'm not used to."

Teammate Jenson Button also failed to shine after Renault's strong performance in the previous races, the Briton having to settle for a disappointing 13th place.