Trulli: “I have always been honest”

A pleased Jarno Trulli claimed he had received the justice he deserved when leaving race control at Sepang on Thursday. The Toyota driver lost the third place and six points he scored in Australia last weekend following an incident involving McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, for which the English team has now been disqualified and Trulli's own penalty lifted, repositioning him to the podium spot.

"I am happy because I just wanted some justice, and I got it," Trulli said. "I am happy for myself and for the team, and have to thank the FIA because it's not very often that they reconsider something; it must have been really hard for them, but they had the common sense to really try and understand what was going on. I have been always honest and it has paid off."

The incident started when Trulli made a mistake and ran off the track under safety car conditions at Turn 15, with Hamilton going through to take the third position. However, with the safety car still on track, the McLaren then yielded to the Toyota by lifting off the throttle to allow Trulli back through. The Italian subsequently explained that he believed the McLaren was in trouble, and possibly out of the race. Hamilton, on the other hand, told the stewards that he did not let Trulli past, despite explaining the opposite to SpeedTV just minutes earlier; it is for this 'deliberately misleading' information that the FIA elected to remove the McLaren team from the final results of the race, having also reviewed the team's radio communications.

"We did not appeal, we did not do anything, and I did not make any further comments," Trulli continued. "I think the FIA was clever enough to understand the situation – they had a very busy end to the race, with so many accidents, but then had a bit more evidence to understand the case. They wanted to hear our views again, and it just confirmed what happened in Australia as I didn't change my statement. That is it. I don't know what made them change their mind, I don't know the evidence or what they investigated on. I cannot comment on it, but am just happy I got my position for what I did on the track.

"It was a controversial end to the race and it was hard for anyone to understand, but again I would like to thank the FIA because they had the strength to reconsider the case, using new evidence and understanding what was going on. I never lied, I was always honest in my statements and I never changed it," he stressed.