Coulthard: media wrong to slam McLaren

McLaren boss Ron Dennis' decision to tell Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to hold position in Monaco to safeguard a 1-2 for the team was heavily criticised by British newspapers - as well as becoming the subject of an FIA investigation.

And after the FIA confirmed on Wednesday that McLaren had done nothing wrong, Coulthard also thinks the British press was unjustified in saying anything against Dennis and his team.

"The British media clearly felt Lewis had been hard done by," said Coulthard in his column for ITV's website. "But I would say to them, don't be hard on McLaren because they have given Lewis the opportunity.

"They have given the media a potential British world champion this year. So don't turn around and make McLaren out to be the big bad racing team screwing the nice British driver.

"If the media wants to give Lewis the time to grow as a Grand Prix driver - and as great as he is today, he will undoubtedly be better in a year's time, and better still in three years' time - then I would suggest they shouldn't do anything that alienates his relationship with the team, because put him in a Spyker and he ain't going nowhere.

"You can't have it every way and I think McLaren should be applauded for giving him the opportunity and respected for making the tough decisions that inevitably come when you are trying to pick drivers, create a racing team and make it competitive."

Coulthard believes that team orders are an inevitable part of F1 - something he knows full well having been told to move over for then McLaren teammate Mika Hakkinen at the 1997 European Grand Prix and the 1998 Australian Grand Prix.

"You can pretend they don't exist, but in reality they are part and parcel of operating a Grand Prix team," he said. "From the moment you get involved in a motorised sport with two competing drivers in the same team, you have to accept that at certain points there will be instructions or decisions that benefit one over the other.

"Was it fair on Lewis to ask him to back off in Monaco? My answer is 'What's fair?' He has been given an opportunity to drive for one of the most successful teams in F1 which typically hasn't taken guys without experience before.

"They could have farmed Lewis out to another team, where he would be doing a good job because he is a good driver, but where he wouldn't be making anywhere like the same impact he is now.

"McLaren are helping Lewis create the foundations of his future success, fame and fortune. So I don't think you can say they're not being fair. The point is that Fernando was on pole and he led the race.

"People were surmising that, had the instruction to back off not come, then maybe Lewis could have reversed his position. But that is very tall order around Monaco."