Coulthard banks on victory in France
David Coulthard has said nothing less than a win for McLaren will do at this weekend's French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours
Coulthard's blistering start to the year has marked himself out as McLaren's number one driver, helped by Mika Hakkinen's disastrous season to date. But since David's last Grand Prix victory seven weeks ago in Austria, he has lost ground to series leader Michael Schumacher.
He currently trails the world champion by 24 points, but is upbeat about his chances of a big points haul at one of his favourite circuits.
"We are looking to win," said Coulthard, whose weekend got off to an excellent start when he topped the free practice times at Magny-Cours today (Friday). "And, as far as I am concerned, the championship is never over until it is mathematically impossible, so until then we will keep on fighting."
At last weekend's European Grand Prix, the McLaren-Mercedes machines were comprehensively outpaced by Williams-BMW and Ferrari, but the Scot is banking on an improved performance in qualifying on Saturday.
"We are trying to get more out of our package, but whether we have the package to get on pole...that may be difficult," he said. "However, we can draw some encouragement from today and we are a bit more upbeat than we were at the Nurburgring.
"Victory, I would say, is more likely here than it was last weekend."
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