Trulli Pleased with Points Finish

Renault driver Jarno Trulli was pleased with his result at the European Grand Prix despite missing out on a podium position.

Trulli, winner of the Monaco Grand Prix a week ago, finished in fourth place nearly a minute behind race winner Michael Schumacher.

The Italian driver was pleased with the points but admitted he was unhappy with the driving of BAR's Takuma Sato, who almost took him out of the race when they clashed as the Japanese driver tried to overtake.

"I made a good start but the race was nearly over at the first corner - if I hadn't opened the door, Sato would have taken me out," said Trulli. "I was third behind him and Michael when, two corners later, he made a mistake so I took the inside line through turn four but he closed the door.

"His right front wheel hit my front left and I nearly lost the car - in the confusion, I pressed the pitlane speed limiter button and that cost me a number of positions. I'm pleased with the job I did today: after finishing the first lap seventh, to be fourth at the end of the race is not so bad."

Renault kept second place in the standings, with Fernando Alonso finishing in fifth position as Renault continued with their strong reliability record.

"It's frustrating to finish fifth having been third on the first lap," said Alonso. "Raikkonen held me up a lot during the first stint, which meant that after I pitted I came out among the cars on two stops.

"Then, the steering became very vague; it caused me to run wide in turn 4, and it took a while to get used to it. After that, I couldn't do anything but protect my position, which I managed to do."