Trulli fined for showdown with Force India's Sutil

The aggressive confrontation with Force India driver Adrian Sutil on Monday hit Jarno Trulli in the pocket as he was slapped with a $10,000 fine for the showdown that followed their opening lap tangle in Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.

On lap one, Toyota's Trulli got into a tangle with Sutil while attempting a move on the German driver and after considering video evidence, the stewards decided not to take any further action, calling it a regular racing incident.

Trulli was subsequently found guilty of "failing to leave the track as required by the marshals immediately after the incident and aggressively confronting Sutil", which amounted to breaching Article 151 (c) of the 2009 FIA International Sporting Code, which rules against "any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally."

"Consequently he was reprimanded and fined $10,000," the FIA said in a statement.

Trying to overtake Sutil, who himself was struggling to control his car after Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari had brushed his wheel, Trulli put a wheel on the grass and went spinning.

The Italian nearly came to blows with Sutil after the incident.