Coulthard attacks Schumacher

As Schumacher struggled with fading tyres, Coulthard spent 10 laps climbing all over the back of the Ferrari. At one point he got alongside on the outside line into the Adelaide hairpin, but the two cars touched and ran wide as Schumacher hugged the inside.

The famously mild-mannered Coulthard then made a number of furious gesticulations as the cars headed towards the next corner.

There was more contact when Coulthard finally made it through, the cars touching wheels briefly as the Scot edged his title rival wide on the exit of the corner.

Coulthard and Schumacher have clashed numerous times on and off track in the past three years, and the victorious McLaren driver again criticised his title rival after the race.

"He is not sporting in the way he drives," Coulthard claimed. "People will say that it's sour grapes but there are set rules we have to drive by.

"It needs discussing. I am not asking for dicing to be banned but you have got to be able to trust people you are racing with because you are risking your life with them."

It was the initial wheel-banging incident that most aggrieved Coulthard, and he tried to justify his uncharacteristic display of 'road rage.'

"I had a clean run and I felt he drove me wide," he said. " My emotions were running high. In order to battle for the championship I had to get a win here.

"That's why I did that gesture and I apologise. You could say he had the right of way and that his deliberate gesture to drive me wide was his right because he had the line. We touched because he would not give way once I was through, but we didn't touch the first time because I moved over for him.

"I am delighted I won in a sporting way."

Coulthard said he plans to discuss the incident with Schumacher.

"I'll talk to him about it," he promised, "but there is nothing I can do. It's up to the stewards to decide whether it's outside the regulations.

"This is a sport and there are sporting ways of going about things and we all know when we are being sporting and when we are not."

However, the McLaren star had to admit that Schumacher played fair when it came to actually conceding the lead.

"Ultimately I was able to get the inside line. I expected him to close the door but he realised I was alongside far enough and let me through," he said. "I have to say he was hard but fair."