Coulthard blames software gremlins

The incident forced the McLaren driver to give up his third place on the grid and start from the rear. He then got involved in contact at the first corner and had to pit for a new front wing. By the time he rejoined after the repairs, Coulthard was 55s behind the leaders. He fought back through the field to take fifth, just 0.4s behind fourth placed Jarno Trulli at the end of the race.

"I initiated the start sequence on the new software before the formation lap and everything was normal until I wanted to accelerate away," said Coulthard. "We are still looking into this as it was not meant to happen.

"Everyone was shocked. I looked across at the team when the engine stopped and you could see the disbelief in their eyes because this should never happen with the new electronics.

"As a result I had to start from the back and got involved in a first corner incident. I was hit from the rear, which damaged the floor and pushed me into another car."

Coulthard admitted that he was so frustrating by the incidents that he considered giving up rather than battling back through the pack.

"I was so frustrated. I just wanted to throw the car in the gravel and go home," he said. "Probably all the emotions you could imagine went through my head because I knew I had initiated things in the same way we had been doing in the winter testing."

Having shared the championship lead with Michael Schumacher at the start of the weekend, Coulthard now finds himself eight points behind the Ferrari driver.