Trulli: Chandhok crash 'one of those things'

Lotus' Jarno Trulli has said his coming together with Karun Chandhok in the closing stages of the Monaco Grand Prix was just 'a racing incident'.

The accident occurred on lap 70, with just eight laps to go, when Trulli tried to dart down the inside of Chandhok's HRT at Rascasse. The two made contact and Trulli's T127 ran over the rear of Chandhok's car before coming to rest on top of the F110.

Both cars were forced out and the safety car was deployed for the fourth time to clear up the mess: "This wasn't a great weekend for me," said Trulli, who later apologised to his rival. "After we had a problem with the wheelgun in the pitstop I was stuck behind the HRTs and trying to find room to overtake.

"In the last lap Karun seemed slow through the second and third sector, and I'd seen he was leaving room at Rascasse, so I tried to get through but we touched and that was that - the end of the race.

"It was one of those things - a racing incident, but I still feel like we're going in the right direction as a team, and I want to put the bad luck behind me when we get back on track in Turkey."

Chandhok meanwhile was disappointed not to get the chequered flag, although he was still classified in 14th. It was his fourth 'finish' of the season.

"I am extremely frustrated by the outcome of the race. Jarno hit me out of nowhere but he has apologised for the incident. We were looking good to finish in thirteenth position but we are still the best of the new teams," Chandhok noted.

"It has been my strongest race of the season. We had a good start and managed to jump both [Lucas] di Grassi and Trulli during the pitstop. After that I was catching [my team-mate, Bruno] Senna until he retired, and was cruising to the end. This is a big disappointment for the whole team.

"It is hard to take for the team and me. However we can be happy with our performance today."

Hispania team boss Colin Kolles, added: "As anticipated, it was a difficult race for us, but we all put in a great effort and came close to seeing both cars make the finish. Unfortunately, Bruno Senna retired with a hydraulic failure on lap 58 while Karun Chandhok walked away from an accident at the Rascasse corner.

"It was a real pity as it would have been possible to finish 13th by that point and he was just four laps from the chequered flag.

"We are the best classified of the new teams. I am disappointed for the team that we narrowly didn't finish our race and because the accident happened under blue flags. We look ahead to the next race now and are determined to bounce back in different conditions."