Coulthard considered Ferrari role

The Scot told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport that he believes he would have fitted in well at Ferrari despite spending nine seasons battling with the Italian cars while driving for their arch rivals McLaren.

"I had the impression that if I had the opportunity to work in that team I would have felt at ease there," said Coulthard.

"So we talked about the possibility of becoming test driver (at Ferrari), but in the end I had the chance to race so it's fine. Ferrari is certainly a different team."

When Coulthard visited the Ferrari factory in November it seemed unlikely that he would find an F1 race seat in 2005, but within weeks he had secured the lead Red Bull drive. Ferrari instead opted to sign ex-Williams reserve driver Marc Gene as a second test driver alongside Luca Badoer.

Coulthard, who is currently testing the new RBR F1 car at Jerez, believes Ferrari remain championship favourites despite impressive testing performances by his old team McLaren.

"I expect Ferrari to remain the team to beat," he said.