Coulthard Delighted with 'Unbelievable' Victory

McLaren driver David Coulthard expressed his delight at ending his year-long search for a victory after he held off the challenge of World Champion Michael Schumacher in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.

The Scot, who started second on the grid in his McLaren, led from start to finish to claim his first victory since the Austrian Grand Prix last year and he admitted his relief at ending the Schumacher dominance this season.

"It's unbelievable - I feel fantastic because naturally we've had a difficult start to the season," said Coulthard, who became the first non-Schumacher winner this year after Michael and Ralf secured victory between them in the opening six events.

"It was looking pretty difficult for us to win a Grand Prix and our hopes were pinned on coming to Monaco that we could have a good performance. Obviously that's been the case and the traction control that caused me some problems last year worked fantastically this year and it was just a question of keeping it off the barriers."

Coulthard admitted that he had had a scare in mid-race when his McLaren began to emit smoke, but the team rectified the problem to allow him to come home ahead of Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and his brother Ralf, of Williams.

"I felt for a few laps as if things were tightening up a little bit and obviously at that point I could see some smoke coming out of Casino and it didn't look good," he added. "I radioed to the team and they said that all the systems were working normally so I just ignored it and thankfully it didn't cause a problem."

Coulthard said that the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks time could see a return of Ferrari to the top of the podium, but he refused to rule out the possibility of McLaren's rediscovered form continuing in Montreal.

"Obviously Canada is a very different circuit and when you think back to last year when we were quite competitive in the first half of the year we were on the second row," he said.

"It might be a different story in Montreal but you never know. First we are going to enjoy this victory because they are difficult to come by, especially this season, and I'm delighted I was able to win for the team."