Coulthard Hoping for a Point on Sunday

McLaren driver David Coulthard set his sights on scoring a point in tomorrow's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim despite enduring a disappointing day after qualifying ninth.

Scot Coulthard, who was confirmed in an unchanged line-up for next year on Friday, failed to match the performance of teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who will start from fifth on the grid.

But Coulthard admitted that he can still finish in the top-six and pick up vital points for himself and the team despite starting behind Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella, BAR's Olivier Panis and the Renault of Jarno Trulli.

"I think that a win will be difficult from ninth, but it is possible to go forwards," Coulthard said. "I am out of position in terms of what the pace of the car can do. But you just put it down to a bad session and look to the race and strategy-wise I'm sure we will go forward and maybe have a chance to pick up a point."

He struggled to improve on his early time but said: "There was no specific problem really, we just had one proper run which was the second run. We lost the first and the third run just to set-up changes.

"The last run obviously I was looking to improve, but I didn't find anything to give me extra confidence to push. I think we are a little bit out of position and that is going to make it exciting tomorrow to try to make some places."

Coulthard claimed his Michelin tyres caused him problems on the newly-designed circuit and admitted that a lack of information about the track prevented him from maximising the performance of his car.

"There is a small element of finding your way around the track and finding out what the set-up is and the other thing is that none of us have tested here at all on this track surface," he added. "Neither Bridgestone or Michelin have any information on the tyres so there is a little bit more work to be done, but ultimately there is the same time as any other Grand Prix."