Italian Jarno Trulli has accused his Toyota team of costing him a podium finish in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.

Trulli crashed out at Spa after a collision with Jordan's Tiago Monteiro nine laps from the end.

He had been running with the leaders until the first pitstop, after the safety car was deployed on lap 11, when he changed his tyres from intermediates to slicks despite the dampness of the track.

"The team's decision to put on slicks at the first stop was a colossal absurdity," the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper quoted Trulli as saying on Monday.

"With them, I could not even keep behind the safety car. I was fourth, in Alonso's slipstream, and I lost a load of time and after that it was impossible to recover.

"The team robbed me of a podium because the car was going really well on this track. I would have been on the podium, taking into account Montoya's retirement."

McLaren's Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya [Images] collided with Williams' Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia while running in second place behind team mate and race winner Kimi Raikkonen [Images].

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