Trulli may split with Renault

The winner of this year's Monaco Grand Prix struggled with the handling of his car throughout the entire Monza weekend and, as team-mate Fernando Alonso challenged for victory, Trulli could manage no better than 10th.

And on the back of a series of disappointing results that has seen him fail to score a single point since the French Grand Prix in July, sources claim the team is considering dropping him for the final three races of the campaign.

The matter has reached a crisis point because Renault has now slipped behind BAR for the runner-up spot in the constructors' championship and needs to start getting both cars to deliver points if it is to have any hope of heading off the charge of Jenson Button and Takuma Sato.

Autosport.com understands that Renault chiefs are now seriously evaluating their options and that a decision will be made early this week whether to stick with Trulli or opt for a replacement.

It is thought that test driver Franck Montagny is not the number one choice because of his lack of race experience, and instead the team will opt for either former grand prix driver Allan McNish or former world champion Jacques Villeneuve if it decides a replacement is needed.

Trulli himself has admitted that he is baffled by his current form - amid wild conspiracy theories that he is being deliberately sabotaged by the team because he is leaving for Toyota. The Italian has tried out three different chassis in the last two weeks - one for the Belgian race, one for Monza testing and one for the Italian race - in a bid to get to the bottom of the problem but to no avail.

"The team is trying to give me more grip and especially better handling but it is not working," he told Autosport.com. "The handling and feeling is always the same whatever we do - I always have oversteer, under braking, turn in and at the exit of corners."

When asked whether he believed the team was deliberately slowing him down, Trulli said: "No. I think we are losing too many points and we have lost second place in the championship. Fernando is doing very well at the moment, so they are supporting him, but they also need my support and my points. We need to try and solve the problem."