Jordan’s Jarno Trulli was delighted to score his best result since the US Grand Prix on Sunday. But, his fourth place appears to be in jeopardy.
Trulli fought off a late charge to score his first points of the season at Monaco and the Italian reckoned he could have been third had he not lost valuable time in traffic.
However, Trulli’s precious three points is in jeopardy after stewards announced they were examining the car’s electronics unit for possible technical irregularities on Sunday night.
The Italian made a strong start to take fifth place going into the first corner and although he was unable to keep pace with the leading quartet, he managed to fend off McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen.
Later in the race he was unable to take advantage of Ralf Schumacher’s tyre troubles due to time lost lapping backmarkers, and this dropped him into the clutches of Giancarlo Fisichella.
But Trulli defended his position to secure his best result since last year’s US Grand Prix at Indianapolis.
"It’s good to score my first points," said Trulli. "A perfectly managed strategy allowed me to claim fourth today. I made a great start, but it became difficult to keep up with the leaders as the tyres got more and more worn. After my stop, I was able to push again on a new set, but then Heidfeld blocked me for about 20 laps, even though he was a lap down.
There were no blue flags at all, and when I finally managed to get past, I was struggling with worn tyres. So, it’s a good result, but I think that once we’ve analysed the race, we’ll view it as a missed podium because of the time I lost behind the Sauber”.
However, the FIA released a statement soon after the race that said the results are official pending “satisfactory identification and inspection of the relevant electronic control unit from car 14.”
That is Trulli’s Renault and it appears that there is a seal missing from the black box of the car. The control units are sealed by race officials to make sure there is no tampering with them after scrutineering.
Mika Hakkinen faced a similar anxious wait following his victory in the 2000 Austrian Grand Prix after experiencing an identical problem. However, the Finn kept his win.
It could be Tuesday before the results are confirmed, ITV-F1 reported on Sunday night.