Coulthard aims to go one better

David Coulthard has finished second in all three Austrian Grands Prix held at the A1-Ring - despite some wildly different qualifying positions. But that's a trend the Scot would be happy to buck.

"I want to win. I don't want to be second any more," he says. "I've had so many seconds and thirds that they don't interest me at all."

Coulthard's most accomplished second-place finish came in 1998, when he qualified 14th due to a wet-weather lottery of a session in the Styrian hills. To add to his woes, Mika Salo's Arrows collided with his McLaren on the first lap and he dropped to the back of the field after pitting for a new front wing. However, a storming drive back through the field put him ahead of Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, and second only to team-mate Mika Hakkinen.

Coulthard's qualifying record shows a disparate set of starting positions - 10th in 1997, 14th in 1998 and second in 1999. However, he has always managed to finish second - an enviable record, but one he is keen to improve on.

DC's team mate Hakkinen has only once been out of the top three in Austria, and that was due to a retirement in the 1997 race - one he was leading with some ease. He made amends in 1998 with a win, but despite taking pole position, could not better third in 1999 - a situation not helped by being tipped into a spin by Coulthard on the first lap.

Michael Schumacher has not performed to his usual high standards at the A1-Ring. The points leader finished sixth there in 1997 after an enforced stop-go penalty caused by passing Heinz Harald Frentzen under a yellow flag. In 1998 he finished third after being comprehensively beaten by the McLaren pair. He did not compete last year, after breaking his leg at Silverstone.

Schumacher's team mate Rubens Barrichello has had a good qualifying record at the circuit, taking three fifth-place starting positions with the Stewart team. However, his car has frequently let him down; in 1997, gearbox problems dropped him to 14th, while in 1998 and 1999, mechanical failure caused retirement.