Coulthard blamed for tyre choice
The decision for David Coulthard to start the Italian Grand Prix on intermediate Michelin tyres while most of the rest of front-runners chose slicks was the driver's own, according to McLaren team boss Ron Dennis

Coulthard was forced to pit at the end of the formation lap, change to slicks and start from the pitlane. The Scot eventually finished sixth after the team switched him over to a one-stop strategy to compensate.
"David was quite adamant it was going to stay wet under the trees long enough to go onto the intermediate tyres," said Dennis. "So that's what we chose to start the race on and we switched him to a one-stop strategy when we went to the dry tyres but it wasn't enough to get him any higher than sixth.
"Okay we got some points, but we are not here to get points we are here to win."
Coulthard admitted he was confident about the decision before the start: "When we tested here in the wet it has taken quite a while to dry under the trees, so you have to make a decision before you know what everyone else is doing. I was pretty sure that it was going to be damp for at least the first four or five laps out there.
"Then when we did the installation lap for the grid, it was completely safe to be on slicks so that's why I called to come in start from the pitlane. Maybe we could have finished a little bit higher had I started from the grid but I think that the one stop enabled us to leapfrog people anyway."
Coulthard's were the only points the team scored in the Italian Grand Prix after Kimi Raikkonen's car was once retired with a technical problem. Dennis conceded that it was a big comedown from the euphoria of the Belgian Grand Prix, when the Finn took a stunning victory. "It's pretty disappointing," he said. "I think we had the ability to win the race. You go away sometimes knowing you don't have pace but...
"Kimi possibly sprung a water leak. He had some impact in the first chicane. There were a few people pushed around. He just had a small water leak from the radiator. So it was a sort of agonising slow death and there was no point in failing the engine when we knew he was going to be out before the end."

Analysis: Barrichello Puts the Icing on Ferrari's Cake
Raikkonen Could Have Won, Says Dennis

Latest news
Double F1 race winner Jean Pierre Jabouille has died
Former French Formula 1 driver Jean-Pierre Jabouille has died on Thursday at age 80, French media have reported.
IMSA champion Jarvis to contest full ELMS season with United Autosports
Reigning IMSA Sportscar Championship title-winner Oliver Jarvis will contest the European Le Mans Series with United Autosports alongside Formula 2 convert Marino Sato, in addition to the World Endurance Championship.
20 years on: Porsche’s 911 GT Daytona 24 Hours giant-killing relived
IMSA’s new GTP class for LMDh cars had a more auspicious debut last weekend than the Daytona Prototypes that arrived in 2003. Back then, they were humbled by a GT Porsche 911, which won the Floridian sportscar classic by nine laps.
Entries open for the 2023 Williams Autosport Engineer of the Future Award story
Entries have opened for the 2023 Williams Autosport Engineer of the Future Award, with budding motorsport engineers invited to apply for the revamped prize.
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return
He has more starts without a podium than anyone else in Formula 1 world championship history, but Nico Hulkenberg is back for one more shot with Haas. After spending three years on the sidelines, the revitalised German is aiming to prove to his new team what the F1 grid has been missing
The potential-laden F1 car that Ferrari neglected
The late Mauro Forghieri played a key role in Ferrari’s mid-1960s turnaround, says STUART CODLING, and his pretty, intricate 1512 was among the most evocative cars of the 1.5-litre era. But a victim of priorities as Formula 1 was deemed less lucrative than success in sportscars, its true potential was never seen in period
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.