Coulthard pleased despite no top ten

"It was very close today," said the Scot after qualifying in 11th position. "That was one of my better qualifying sessions, each of my laps were very tidy.

"On the last lap I was quicker going into the final corner, but I seemed to drag more speed going into the apex, which made me very slow down to the start/finish straight.

"I would love to have got through to Q3, as it would have meant more driving in the car on low fuel, but I don't think there was much more I could have got out of the car with the balance I had," added Coulthard, who outqualified teammate Mark Webber for the second time this season.

The Australian posted the 13th fastest time and admitted he had overdriven his car in Q2 and reckoned a better result was possible.

"I wasn't quick enough today and when you don't get the times you don't go through," admitted Webber. "I didn't get it together in Q2 and you pay the price. There was more to get from the car, but I overdrove on the last sector.

"It was a shame as I had had a good feeling for the car both yesterday and this morning, but qualifying didn't seem to work out for us today. It will be difficult from there tomorrow."